


The Bonds of a Pack

by TheDyingStory



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alcohol, Alpha Keith, Alpha Shiro (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Exploration of dynamics and relationships, Fluff, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Omega Lance (Voltron), Pack Dynamics, Team Bonding, Touch-Starved Keith, Trans Female Character, Trans Pidge | Katie Holt, Violence, alteans dont have dynamics, beta hunk, beta pidge, just cuddles, soft klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2018-10-22 18:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 54,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10703022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDyingStory/pseuds/TheDyingStory
Summary: Communication and support is necessary for a proper pack. Here's a series of events in which the team Voltron does this - sort of.A/B/O dynamics au. Get ready for a lot of cute shit. (Takes place after season 2, au where Shiro never disappeared).





	1. Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is sick, Hunk helps.

When Lance wakes up, everything aches. His muscles, his bones, head – he feels like he got beat up by the gladiator (which had happened yesterday). His skin is itchy and just feels _gross_ , completely sweaty and greasy. At first, he thinks he’s in heat – but that’s not possible since he had just gone through one a month ago – until he notices how cold he feels. The chills and soreness that racks up his spine. Not a heat, but a cold—possibly the space flu or something. He groans as he rolls over onto his stomach, and smothers his face with the pillow. It smells faintly of Keith.

 _Keith._ He wonders where the Alpha is and guesses that he’s probably training if nothing else. Lance finds himself wanting to find the Alpha and curl up on his side for comfort but decides against it. He doesn’t want to bother Keith; besides he’s only got the flu or something – nothing to run to an Alpha for help over.

Also, he really does not want to move. It hurt enough just to roll over, and the idea of having to actually stand up and walk makes him bury himself under his sheets even more.

He wonders if he should call for Hunk, but he’s probably busy as well. Hunk is most likely working on the lions or other machinery, and if not he is probably working magic in the kitchen to develop some meal that is to die for. Pidge has her files and codes to go over to find clues about her family’s whereabouts and information that is vital to taking down the Galra Empire. Shiro is no doubt busy, being the leader and all, and so would be Allura. Coran may be able to help, but the chances that he was with Pidge or Allura were very high. Of course, they would be busy, there’s a lot to be done. There’s always work.

The only work Lance could really do is to train with Keith, but that was clearly not happening today if the throbbing in the back of his head had anything to say about it.

Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any attacks on them today. Lance doesn’t think he’d be able to form Voltron while feeling like this – of course _,_ he _could_ do it. He could still fly blue, fight, and form a leg but he really does not want to.

A cough tears it's out through his throat, leaving behind a painful burn. The kind of burn that makes you want to swallow a cactus just to get rid of the itch. The noise he makes in response sounds like a mix of a groan and a whimper. God, does he want to die right about now.

He lies in bed for what feels like another hour. By then, there's an irritation in his eyes that is hard to get rid of. Lance finds himself resisting the urge to claw them out. Frankly, he wants to claw at his entire body. It's gross, and he doesn't want to be in it anymore. A heat is almost better than what he’s feeling right now.

He shoves himself up from his bed and almost sobs at the aching that travels up his arms and spreads over his back. Shaking, he crawls out of bed wrapped in a blanket and walks over to the bathroom. A bath would definitely soothe his achy muscles and bones. A nice hot, steamy bath that he hopefully does not fall asleep in and drown. That would be truly unfortunate… But not so unfortunate because he is really not up for dealing with this cold – flu – whatever this is.

As the bath fills up with water, he takes a moment to check himself out in the mirror – _oh_ _dear god._

He looks _terrible_. He mentally thanks his past self for not living his rooming while looking like that. He looks like he’s on the verge of death and-

 _Is that a fucking pimple!?_ Shit! It was a blasted pimple. After all the work and dedication that he puts into his skin care, this should be one of the last things to happen. Yet there it was, the destruction of his flawless skin. He blames the cold.  

After nearly tripping over his own feet, he slips into the almost boiling hot water with a wince. He sighs and relaxes. He scrubs himself roughly, with a desperation to clean himself of all the sickness that he feels on his skin. He spends most of the bath just relaxing his muscles, letting the warm water soak out the ache.

His eyes start to feel heavy, and he takes that as a sign to get out of the bath. It wouldn’t be smart to sleep there, especially when the water starts to get cold. He feels better, cleaner too when he reluctantly climbs out of the bath. But it will only be a matter of time before that gross feeling comes back. His nose is already starting to get stuffy, and there is a tightness in his chest as the urge to cough becomes strong.

He throws on a bathrobe and returns to his bed. He all but flops down into the sheets, curling up in a nest of fabrics and pillows. In a few minutes, he’s out like a light.

* * *

Hunk scrubs the oil off of his hands before grabbing a face cloth to wash his face clean of some more oil. He was helping Pidge with her machines – a little robot friend who has been dubbed the name SONA by Hunk. There had been a slight malfunction that resulted in an oily mess. Hunk bravely took a hit for Pidge, thus the reason he’s the one covered in oil and not her.

SONA’s purpose is mainly to help Pidge get some work off her shoulders so that twice the amount of work can get done faster. Since SONA is almost complete, they decided to take a break and finish them tomorrow. In the meantime, Pidge went to go talk to Coran, most likely about learning Altean.

Now, while Hunk would normally go to the kitchen and try to figure out how to make something both edible and tasty that wasn’t food goo, he decided that he would much rather take a break from that as well. They all need breaks at some point.

So, once he deems himself to be oil-free, he goes to look for Lance. He hasn’t heard from him at all today, and he wants to spend some time with his best bro.

Hunk checks the lounge first for any sign of Lance and only finds the mice snacking on some food they must have gotten after raiding the kitchen.

“Hey, little guys, you wouldn’t happen to know where Lance is, would you?” He asks them, and they squeak in response, making wild gestures. Hunk nods as he tries to decipher them – almost like a game of charades. It takes him a few moments before understand what they’re saying. “Oh! Lance is still in his room? Hm… that’s odd. He’d normally be up by now.”

The squeak at him again and makes some more gestures.

“Yeah… maybe he just wants a break. I’m still going to check on him, though. Thanks for the help, little dudes,” He gives them a little high five before leaving the lounge.

It doesn’t take him long to reach Lance’s room, and once he is in front of the door, he’s overcome with worry.

Something isn’t right, his senses are telling him something is wrong with one his pack members. For a second he thinks it might be the smell of Lance’s heat come through the door, but he corrects himself as he knows that’s not true for several reasons. For one, Lance just went through one not too long ago. Secondly, the scent he smells is not that of Lance in heat. It’s not sweet or anything. It’s just Lance’s scent, but there’s something off about it.

Hunk’s eyes widen as he comes to a conclusion and then he frowns. Why didn’t Lance come find any of them if he were sick? Lance is a very social person and can’t stand to be alone – not as an Omega, that was just Lance. But being an Omega made it even more difficult for Lance to deal with certain things on his own, like being sick. Hunk can recall every time Lance was sick in the past and how he instantly sought out comfort. So, for Lance not to come find anyone was odd.

Hunk knocks on the door, “Buddy? You in there?” He knows he is in there, he could smell him, but he doesn’t want Lance to know. If Lance was going through something, that he wanted to deal with alone, then Hunk was not going to make him uncomfortable and force himself to make him known.

He hears the faints sounds of rustling sheets and then a quiet, “Yeah.”

“Can I come in?”

There’s a pause, some more rustling. “Yeah.”

The door slides open, and Hunks enters the dark room. His instincts instantly start running wild at the smell of a distressed omega. Lance is curled up on his bed in a nest of blankets and pillows. Hunk can hear even hear the quiet whine that follows Lance’s coughs. He sounds like he’s trying to his noises and suppress his coughs, but is obviously failing.

Lance rolls over to face Hunk with pleading, watery eyes. He can’t help it. Even without his instincts, he wouldn’t be able to resist Lance’s look. Hell, he doubts anyone could. Lance had a tendency to do that – he says it's his charm, and he’s probably right.

Hunk goes over, and Lance welcomes him by grabbing his hand and pulling him into the nest. It’s covered in Lance’s scent, but Hunk can also make out the faint aroma of Keith who must have been here last night. That is no surprise to Hunk, he knows just about everything that goes on with Lance. They’re best friends for crying out loud, they know lots about each other. And that’s not just the dynamics talking.

A whimper comes from Lance as he instantly curls up against Hunk, squishing his face against Hunk’s chest. Hunk sighs and wraps his arms around Lance.

“Why didn’t come find one of us? You know, we wouldn’t have minded, right?” Hunk asks. Lance makes a noise that sounds like a whine before lifting his face off of Hunk’s chest.

“I didn’t want to bother anyone,” his voice is scratchy. He sounds exhausted as well.

“You wouldn’t be bothering anyone, bud. We wouldn’t push you away, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Hunk assures him. “You’re our friend, Lance. We care about you. And I know for a fact that a certain Alpha is going to be upset that you didn’t come find him. Seriously, the second he catches of whiff – no pun intended – of you being sick, he’ll come bursting through that door, dying to coddle and fret over you.”

Lance smiles at that, “yeah… yeah, you’re probably right.”

“I am always right,” Hunk nods.

Rolling his eyes, Lance chuckles. “Yeah, yeah. But I really didn’t want to bother anyone – I know you wouldn’t mind, but I do. It’s just a cold, I should be able to handle on my own.” Almost to counter his point, he starts to cough. Each a cough sounds painful like he was about the damaged his lungs. It sets Hunk on edge and his starts to rub Lance’s back in circular motions to help his friend through it.

Once a last cough is finished tearing up Lance's throat, Hunk asks, “you okay, man?”

“Fine,” Lance wheezes.

“Yeah, that sure sounded fine,” Hunk replies sarcastically. He place’s the back of his hand against Lance’s forehead. “You’re burning up. This is definitely not fine, Lance.”

Lance pouts and leans his head against Hunk’s shoulder, “’m sorry.”

Hunk sighs and pulls Lance closer, wrapping him up in his arms. He tucks Lance’s head under his chin and falls against the mattress. “It’s okay. But we should let the others know that you’re sick. You can’t be doing anything extreme today. Otherwise, you’ll get even sicker.”

“Mhhmm,” Lance nods sleepily against him. “Can we just stay like this for a while though?”

“Sure thing,” Hunk replies as Lance slowly succumbs to sleep. Hunk smiles at his adorable friend and allows himself to relax.

Of course, it’s not until Hunk tries to move away from Lance that he realizes just the mistake he’s made. How could he have easily forgotten? Lance’s arms are wrapped securely around Hunk in a way that would have people wondering if he was truly asleep. Lance is like a quiznacking koala when he sleeps. Once he’s latched onto something, he won’t let go until he wakes up. Keith is the same, as Hunk had found out from experience, which is no wonder why they were meant to be together. They probably cuddle the shit out of each other… which is actually really cute when Hunk thinks about it.

Speaking of Lance and Keith being together, Hunk finds himself eternally grateful when Keith does, in fact, burst through the door. The Alpha’s worry and panic for Lance are strong and he willingly trades places with Hunk, rescuing him from the koala cuddling clutches of doom.


	2. Cuddle Pile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some smooching and mild mentions of sex at the end  
> Keith has much to learn

Keith isn’t quite sure how exactly he had ended up in the position. But he knows it started with Lance. It seems to always start with Lance. He stills not sure if this is an Omega thing or a Lance thing, or if it’s both. But he always tends to initiate things like this.

“Thing like this” typically being these… cuddle piles? That’s what Lance calls them anyway. Keith still isn’t sure how it happens. All he knows is that Lance comes to him and always succeeds in pulling him away from whatever it was he was doing, and then drags him over to the lounge. There they just lay on the couch in each other’s arms, which Lance’s front pressed against his. A few kisses here and there, until they doze off.

Keith isn’t complaining. He loves it when Lance does things like that. It’s almost addicting. The second Lance pulls him close, he doesn’t want to break apart from him. He suspects that must be his Alpha instincts kicking in around the Omega… but he quite sure.

Shiro doesn’t react this way around Lance but that could be because he doesn’t want to overstep any boundaries, seeing as Lance and Keith were in a relationship and the presence of another Alpha might set Keith off. Keith would never attack Shiro, god no, and he’s sure Shiro knows that too. Screw territorial Alpha’s and what not, that wasn’t a thing that happened often nowadays. Aside from that, even before Keith and Lance were a thing, Shiro didn’t react in such a way when Lance brushed against him. Every time Lance so as stands near Keith, he finds himself moving closer to him. He just can’t explain it… He should probably talk to Shiro about this sometime. He’s not sure if this is normal or not.

Then again, normal is not something he’s ever been. So chances were it wasn’t normal at all. He’s never really gotten close to anyone (except for Shiro) and has never really been in a Pack before. He’s not sure what’s normal and what exactly he should and should not do. If there’s one thing he knows, he should talk to Shiro about it but he just… can’t bring himself to open up like that. Even to Shiro, who is both his best friend and Alpha.

So, while he’s not sure what is okay in a Pack, these cuddle piles appear to be. It sure wasn’t like this before he went to sleep though.

It was just him and Lance, snuggled close together on the couch. Then he had dozed off, listening to the beating of Lance’s heart. When he woke up, it was no longer just him and Lance asleep in the lounge. Almost the entire team was there, not to mention the fact the lounge seemed to gain a bunch of pillows and blankets everywhere as well.

The first person he spots is Hunk who is leaning against the couch their on, wrapped up in a blanket. Shiro’s not too far away, lying on the floor with several large pillows. Pidge is between him and Hunk, and she’s wrapped up in a blanket burrito with her head resting on Hunk’s leg. Allura is even there which is a surprise. He knows Alteans don’t have the same dynamics as humans, heck as far as he knows they don’t have any. But, even so, it’s actually nice to see her part of this, curled up near Shiro and Pidge. The mice have even made themselves a spot on one of the large pillows next to Allura. Coran is nowhere to be seen though.

The lights of the room are dimmed, giving the room a drowsy feel. Or maybe that’s because everyone’s asleep. From what he can see, he deduces that Hunk must have found them first, only to be followed by Pidge and then Shiro. Allura was close behind if not right beside him. He’s not sure where Coran would be, but he can guess that he had things to do so didn’t stick around. The fact that not everyone’s here does something weird to his chest. Allura and Coran may not have dynamics and be a whole different species, but… they’re still a Pack.

His attention turns to Lance who stirs in his sleep. He nuzzles his face against Keith’s chest – somewhere along their nap they must have moved around – and mumbles in his sleep. Keith wraps his arms tightly around him, and lightly presses his lips against Lance’s forehead. A small smile forming on Lance’s lips and his eyes flutter open. He looks up at Keith with gentle eyes, and Keith’s feels his heartbeat flutter.

“You should still be asleep,” he says. He grabs one of Keith’s arms and pulls it away from his waist, trailing his fingers up his forearm until they reach the palm of his hand where he gently intertwines his fingers with Keith’s.

“Why?” Keith asks, giving Lance’s hand a squeeze.

“Because, you, being a workaholic and never knowing when to stop, need more rest. Seriously, the bags under eyes keep getting bigger, man.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “I get plenty of rest.”

Lance scoffs, “Really?”

“Yes.”

“How many hours?”

“Enough hours for me to function.”

“So,” Lance raises an eyebrow, “only like three hours?”

“One more.”

“Four.”

Keith nods, “Yeah.”

“Four hours,” Lance repeats with a deadpanned look.

“Yes, you just said that.”

Lance shakes his head, “Nope, that’s not okay. From now on, I’m making sure you get more hours of sleep.”

“Three hours is perfectly fine. Any more than that and I get disorientated.”

“Maybe that’s because your brain can’t handle finally making a healthy choice.”

“Lance,” Keith starts, “you don’t need to worry about me.”

“Enh!! Wrong answer. I have every right to worry about my boyfriend. And an Omega, it’s my job to make sure everyone is alright.”

Keith frowns at that. “Isn’t that an Alpha’s job?”

“Yes and no. Alphas lead, guide and protect the Pack. That also means making sure everyone is okay. Omegas are homemakers, and nurturing stuff which pretty much equals making sure everyone is happy and healthy.”

“I see…” Keith mumbles.

“But that’s nothing set in stone though. Traditional and old day ways aren’t so major anymore – _thank god_. Anyone can really play any role, it’s just that being a certain dynamic makes it easier to complete certain roles. Hunk is a Beta, but he is perfectly capable of acting like an Omega. Heck, I’d say he’s more Omega like than me,” Lance rattles on.

“Okay…”

“So, even though it’s seen more of as an Alpha or an Omega thing – it’s really just any Pack member thing. We look out for each other. That’s how it works. And that means I get to worry about you and so does everyone else.”

“Uh huh…”

“…Are you okay?” Lance asks, his brows furrowing together. “You look a bit confused there, buddy.”

“I-I’m not confused. I’m… just trying to wrap this around my head.”

Lance hums, “what’s difficult for you to understand?”

“I don’t know… Just… Where exactly do I stand?”

“You mean like in the Pack?”

“Yeah. If we play any role, what does that mean for me?”

“Okay, well right now. You’re an Alpha, but I guess your placement is like a Beta. Yeah, kind of like a ‘top dog Beta’, because you know you’d become the next Alpha if Shiro… decided to take a vacation or something. Hunk is a Beta, but if I went on a vacation then he’d fill in the spot since he is able to. And Pidge – well, since she hasn’t presented it’s hard to tell, but at the moment she’s a Beta, right in the middle and a true neutral. I’m an Omega, and since I’m the only one here it’s easy for me to just fill in that spot.

“Now, Allura and Coran…” He glances to where Allura is sleeping. “Allura is like the second Alpha, I guess. Which is kind of odd to see, since we’re such a small Pack. Normally, she’d be a Beta, but… You know, she just has that really strong aura around her that screams leader. Coran’s a Beta, but he could make a good Omega.”

Keith nods, “I think that makes sense.”

“Hmm, but you’re still an Alpha. Maybe not all leader-y and stuff but,” Lance nuzzles his nose under Keith’s jaw, “still an Alpha.”

He presses lips to his neck, planting a kiss on the spot that he knows Keith likes. Keith sighs and runs his thumb over the knuckles of Lance’s hand that he still holds tightly. He can feel the smile tugging on Lance’s lips against his skin. Lance nips at his skin and pulls away.

“So, is there anything else you want to ask me?”

He tilts his head to rest on Lance’s. He takes a breath. “Yeah, what the heck is this?”

Lance frowns, “What?”

“This,” He gestures to the room, where everyone is still snuggled up and sleeping. Although he’s positive Allura and Shiro ended up getting closer, they’re almost in each other arms now. Pidge also looks more sprawled out, like a starfish.

“I’m still not sure I’m following.”

“Everyone’s here? And asleep? They could be in their rooms, but they're here instead?”

“Oh. Yeah, you know it’s a cuddle pile. I told you about this before,” Lance replies.

“Yes, but why? Is this… a normal thing in a Pack?”

“Yeah, this is completely normal. It’s just a thing that happens. Since we're a Pack, we tend to stick together. Our instincts and urges and stuff just kind of tell to get all snuggled up with one another. Mix scents, stay close and safe. Whenever anyone cuddles with another Pack member, it tends to trigger a cuddle pile. So, don’t be surprised if this happens again.”

Keith ponders on that for a moment, “So, it’s like when I get close to you and don’t want to separate.”

“Hmm, yeah like that. It’s kind of like a pull. We are a social species - I think that's what I learned in biology.”

“Oh, okay so that’s all normal then.”

“Yep.”

“Good,” Keith sighs. He brings Lance’s hand to his lips and places a chaste kiss on the knuckles. “Because I really want to stay like this, for a long time.”

Lance flushes, “alright you asked for it.”

“What?”

Lance pushes himself off of Keith, whose eyes widen in shock at the movement. He moves himself up so he is face-to-face with the Alpha and grins. Smashing their lips together, Keith almost jumps before melting into it. He sighs, relaxing into the couch, and wraps his arms around Lance’s torso. Lance, in turn, cups Keith’s face and pulls him into a deeper, stronger kiss.

Keith nips at Lance’s bottom lip, bringing out a small whine from him. He runs his hands over Lance’s back in soothing motions, reveling in how his muscles move under his fingertips. Lance twitches in his grip when his hands go near his sides – his oh so vulnerable and ticklish sides. Keith smiles against Lance’s lips when he hears him whine. Lance huffs at him and moves his hand from his cheeks to grip the back of his neck and tug at his hair.

Keith is reluctant to pull away, but does to say, “I thought you didn’t like my hair.”

“I don’t remember saying I did.”

“Yeah, but you’re sure gripping at it like you love it.”

Lance sticks his tongue out at Keith, “ _Mullethead_.” Instead of going for a kiss when he leans back in, he targets Keith’s neck. He nips and kisses the skin there – a tactical revenge. Keith bites his lip to keep from moaning.

He reaches up and with on hand grabs at Lance’s short, brown locks. His hair has grown quite a bit; he’s almost got a mullet himself. Of course, Keith doesn’t voice this thought. He doesn’t want to ruin the moment. He pulls Lance off on his neck and their eyes meet. Everything seems to freeze, and it's just the two of them.

Then he feels it. It’s this weird pull, like a voice inside his head is telling to do something. But he’s not sure what. Lance, on the other hand, seems to know what to do. He leaned in close, almost looking like he was going in for another kiss only to veer off to the side and nuzzle against the side of his face. Keith’s breath hitches as he is overcome with Lance’s scent. It’s sweet and he finds himself nuzzling against Lance’s neck.

He’s not sure exactly what is happening for the first few seconds until he eventually remembers what he had learned in school. This was _scenting_ – at least, that’s what he thought it was. Something pack members did from time to time, although not so intimately like this. He guesses that it’s because of the relationship he and Lance has, or maybe it’s because Lance is an Omega and simply desires to be more intimate in this process. Perhaps it was both.

If there was one thing was sure about, it was that he was enjoying this. He loved what it did to the wild instincts deep down inside. The combining of their scents. It was like he was screaming to the world that this boy in his arms was his Pack mate, _his mate._

“ _Mine,”_ he murmurs.

"Yours." Lance sighs and smiles, "Mine?”

“ _Yours."_

They stay like that pressed against each other. Chaste kisses here and there. Share a few sweet words, whispered in between kisses. They don’t dare separate. They can't bear to. Keith finds himself never wanting this moment to end. To stay on this couch, in this quiet space with his pack, with Lance there in his arms. He doesn't know what he'd do if he were to lose all of this. But he doesn't want to think about that. He doesn't want to think everything here coming to an end. So, he just stays there and lets the calm overtake him and enjoys every second that goes by.

Until Pidge pipes up, “You guys better not be planning on having sex here.”

“ _Pidge.”_ Lance hisses. The others are showing signs of waking as well.

“No sex in the cuddle pile, Lance.”

“We weren’t going to have sex!” That wakes Hunk up.

“Lance, you weren’t going to commit sacrilege, were you?” Hunk yawns, almost like he wasn’t surprised.

“No!”

“Good.”

“What’s going on?” Allura groggily sits up.

Pidge tuts, “way to go, Lance. You woke up the Princess.”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“Quiet, before you wake Shiro too.”

“Actually,” Allura says, “I don’t think you need to worry about waking him. He looks like he’s going to be asleep for a while.”

“Don’t doubt that,” Keith comments. “He hardly gets any sleep. Less than me.”

Lance's eyes widen as he looks between Keith and Shiro, “Are. You. Kidding Me?!”

“I wish I were.”

“That means he gets less than four hours!”

“Yeah.”

The room gets quiet as everyone comes to terms with that news.

“Who else agrees that we should have cuddle piles more often so our two stubborn Alpha’s get more sleep?” Hunk asks.

Everyone nods and says, “Agreed.”


	3. Night Terror (graphic images)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has a nightmare.

Keith screams at the burning sensation on his shoulder. The blade must have gone through. He struggles against his capture, a large soldier with a cruel grin and glowing eyes. The Galra soldier’s boot digs into his back, keeping him pinned to the muddy earth beneath him. The weight felt like a ton of bricks and seemed to increase the more he fought against him.

“Pathetic, little half-breed,” the soldier snarls out. The sword is yanked from his shoulder and he lets out a shout in agony. The blade leaves a fire in his veins. “Honestly thought you could take us down?”

Keith glares up at him, “I _know_ we will.”

The soldier laughs bitterly. “and yet you’re alone.” The Galra looks off to the side. Keith squints at him and follows his gaze. His heart drops.

Shiro lies motionless several feet away, a gaping hole in his chest. Pidge is almost unrecognizable as her body is stuck in debris. Hunk’s bloody and still at the feet of a large Galra soldier that looks almost like Sendak. Allura lies not too far from Hunk and is missing a large part of her torso – her eyes stare blankly at him. Coran is near Pidge, trapped under debris as well, well large crack in his skull.

He can’t breathe. His lungs won’t work. He feels like he’s drowning in the massacre in front of him. A cold knife seems to run up his spine.

“Tell me again, half-breed, what kind of paladin lets their friends die? What kind of hero can fail everyone?” His voice feels like a snake with its fangs dug into Keith’s neck. He can’t possibly answer that.

“Perhaps, you remaining companion can help you answer that.”

A shrill scream pulls his attention to the other side, away from his fallen friends. Lance is alive, wounded and held down by another soldier. There’s a rod pressed against his back that lights up with sparks and when it connects to Lance’s body again it sends shocks through his convulsing body. They leave scorch marks on his skin – his armor is missing and he’s left in only a torn up black suit.

“Lance!” Keith shouts. “Let him go! Get away from him!” His voice comes out as a fierce growl. They have to get away from him. He needs to get to Lance. He has to get them both out of here. He has to- he needs to-

“Well, what does this little paladin think of what kind of paladin you are?”

The soldier holding Lance down brings the rod close to Lance’s neck, daring him to disobey the request. At first, Lance only glares at the Galra above Keith. Then, slowly his gaze flickers down to Keith. If looks could kill, Keith would have been ripped to shreds by the daggers in Lance’s eyes.

In that moment, everything seems to freeze. Everything except for him and Lance. His chest constricts, his lungs hurt but he can’t bring himself to breathe. Lance’s anger feels like a gun pressed against his head and the slightest movement, the slightest breath will trigger it. Keith doesn’t need to imagine all the emotions that a running through Lance’s mind because he can _feel_ them. Betrayal, rage, hurt, sorrow, fear. It’s like taking razors to his skin.

Dread overcomes him when Lance begins to speak. “This is all your fault.”

The words hurt more than he had hoped. “Lance-no-I –,” he stutters, desperate to find the words to hopefully take Lance’s anger off him.

“You killed them,” Lance’s voice comes out choked. He looks so betrayed with tears in the corners of his eyes.

“Please-Lance–”

“How-how could you? You were part of our Pack?! How could you let this happen?” Lance sobs out. Keith’s feels his throat constrict, trapping his voice. What could he even say? How can he possibly make this better?

Still, he tries again. “Lance – I-I’m sorry–”

“Save it,” he bites out. “You-you let this happen. Our pack’s dead. You killed them. You should have never been apart of it. You’re not my Alpha. You’re not my mate. You’re not a Paladin. You’re just a Galra that ruined everything.”

Every word burns.

“Lance-”

The soldier laughs. “I think you’ve heard enough.” He nods at the other soldier. Suddenly, the rod pressed against Lance’s neck becomes a gun pressed to the back of his head. Lance doesn’t glance back at it, instead, keeps his glassy eyes on Keith’s.

“ _I hate you_.”

The soldier pulls the trigger.

“Lance!”

Keith gasps as he lurches forward. It’s dark, only a slight glow from the ceiling gives off any light. He’s in his room. Not on the battlefield. There’s no Galra soldier holding him down. The others are alive and well. But… the images are etched into his mind. It sends shivers up his spine. He feels like throwing up.

It was just some really fucked up dream.

A hand wraps around his wrist and he flinches away, panicked. His attention snaps over to the person the hand belongs to. Lance is awake and looks at him with worry. Keith feels a pang of guilt for waking up his mate and the words said in his dream ring in his ears.

“Keith…” Lance begins, but Keith stops him.

“Sorry. I- I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Lance frowns. “Do you… want to talk about-”

“No.” Keith blurts out, cutting Lance off again. He doesn’t mean to be rude like that. The effects of the dream still clouding his mind. He takes a breath. “I mean- not- not now.”

Lance nods, understanding. He can almost remember a time, at the beginning of their relationship where Lance would have been more demanding. Where he would push until Keith’s walls came crashing down on both of them. Luckily, they’ve learned (which almost shocked everyone, themselves included) and they grew together. Knowing how far to push, when to keep going and when to stop, they learned things about themselves and each other.

This was just like those times, only they both knew that this was something that will be talked about later. Now was not the time to push and tear down any wall made. Keith would tell him later when he’s calmed down, and Lance would be patient.

So Lance simply cups Keith’s cheek, comfortingly pulls him close and give him a chaste kiss. It’s reassuring and Keith melts into it. Sadly, he pulls away.

“Want to go back to sleep?” He asks. And Keith’s not sure how to answer that. He doesn’t want to end up back on that battlefield. He also knows it’s probably very early in the morning – too early – and is not the time to train, especially since his mind tends to run when he does so. He wants to stay with Lance, but not sleep. But staying with Lance will lull him into sleep.

Lance moves so one hand is on his waist and the other running through his hair. “Yeah,” he makes up his mind. Even if he ends up on that battlefield again, he’ll at least have Lance to wake up next to again.

Without a reply, Lance tucks Keith’s head under his chin, fingers still running through his hair in slow, gentle motions. They lay back down on the bed. Keith breathes in Lance’s scent and feels his muscles relax and his mind go at ease. He’s positive he heard a faint chirp come from Lance; a sign of a content Omega, he thinks. The noise makes his heart flutter with pleasure and pride.

He kinda wants to grab Lance’s hand and hold it. But he’s too content to move. So he lays there in his mate’s arms, slowly drifting back to sleep.

Through the rest of the night, his sleep goes unbothered. He doesn’t have any night terrors. When he wakes up in the morning it’s to Lance’s sleepy smile.


	4. Take a Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge stresses. Coran to the rescue.

Pidge slumps against the wall with a sigh. As much as she wants to continue to work, she can’t help be feel… exhausted. She hasn’t even done much. Went through codes, data, and coordinates and coming to no conclusions. She just… couldn’t get into it.

It’s upsetting, really, that she’s hit this block. If she is going to find her family, she has to work and get things done. She’s been doing too well so far and with every new data she gets, she is so close to finding them. Yet, now she’s stuck. It’s hard to look at the screen of her computer, and it’s even harder to process the symbols in front of her.

She runs her hands through her hair – it’s been getting longer; she can almost get it into a tiny ponytail. Her eyes flutter shut and she shoves her computer off her lap. The floor is cool, and definitely not a place to take a nap but she really isn’t in the mood to move. Her upper body tilts over and she lies on the floor. With a grunt, she rolls over onto her back in a more comfortable position.

She lies there for a while, drifting in and out of sleep, oblivious to the footsteps approaching her.

“Pidge?” It’s Coran. Her eyes blink open and she looks up at the confused man. “Are you alright?”

She shrugs, “I’m fine. Just… you know, thought I’d take a nap.”

“On the floor?”

“Yep.”

“In the middle of the hallway?”

“Uh huh.”

His eyes narrow down at her, “Is this normal for humans? To sleep in hallways?”

“…Yes. It’s a tradition.”

His eyes light up, much like the way they tend to do whenever he learns something new about human. Allura has a very similar reaction as well. It’s pretty amusing. Pidge can recall the several times they have shared details about human life and how the two Alteans react, incredibly intrigued. It’s even funnier when what their told is something that isn’t exactly true. Like that one time, she and Lance decided to educate them on a major aspect of humanity: _memes_. It was awesome and Shiro’s disappointment, Keith’s confusion, and Hunk’ quiet laughter added to the experience.

“Is that so?” Coran says, “seems odd compared to the other traditions you have. But, then again, your planet is filled with an abundance of cultures, so that shouldn’t be surprising.”

“Yeah, lots of different traditions. This one is a major tradition in my family.” It really wasn’t, but it’s not like he knew that.

“Really? Mind if I join you.”

“Sure.” Pidge shrugs and Coran beams. She stares up at the ceiling as Coran lays down next to her.

“So, all you do is lay down?” He asks.

“Yeah.”

“Nothing else?”

“Not really.”

“Hm.” Coran nods. “This interesting compared to the other things you humans do.”

Pidge glances over to Coran with a curious look in her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Coran says, “from my observations, you humans prefer more comforting things. Like nests of blankets, the presence of other pack members and familiar scents. Lying on cold floors alone in the middle of hallways seems to contradict that. Humans are a complex species from what I’ve been told, though.”

“Oh,” Pidge says and looks back the ceiling, “yeah… this is a bit odd compared to what we’re normally like… but sometimes we just need a little break from all of that.”

“I see.” He twists his mustache thoughtfully. “Do you do this often?”

“Not really…”

“Is that a good thing?”

“I guess?” Pidge frowns. “I mean… I haven’t really felt to need to… we’re a good pack, so, you know…” She’s not sure exactly where she’s going with this, but Coran patiently nods along with what she says. She can’t really help but appreciate his effort to understand them.

“So, if that’s the case, what exactly has got you bothered?” He asks.

“I-It’s nothing,” she answers.

Coran’s expression softens at that. “Surely it isn’t nothing. If it has you laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, then it is a subject for concern.”

Pidge suddenly sits up, pulling her legs close to her chest. She stares intensely at her laptop on the front of them. Coran pushes himself up, preparing to apologize for prying too much when he notices where she gazes. Eyes widening, he puts the pieces together.

“Hit a dead end?”

“No. Not a dead end. I just can’t- it’s too- ugh! I can’t focus on it- I can’t even make any connections. It- It’s like I’m reading an entirely different language that I don’t understand. Like I’m a little kid who can’t remember how to read! I-I don’t know what’s wrong with me!?” Pidge chokes, her hands yanking her hair.

“It’s alright,” Coran says.

“No! No, it’s not alright! How am I supposed to find my family if – if – if I can’t even–” There are tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

Coran finds himself feeling lost. He’s not a human, he doesn’t have a dynamic and he’s sure that if he doesn’t make the right decision, thing’s will get far much worse. Should he get someone? If he should, then who should he get? Shiro? Shiro would know how to help Pidge, but that would take too long and would probably put Pidge in a position she didn’t ask to be in. Getting someone probably isn’t the best idea.

It’s up to him to help Pidge. He thinks back to all his observations of the paladins; the notes and data he and Allura collected to better understand them. He’s been with these paladins for _months_. He’s seen how they interact with each other, how they treat him and Allura as Pack mates even though they have no dynamic. He may not have a dynamic, but he’s part of their pack in their eyes.

Tentatively, he places a hand on Pidge’s shoulder. Not too much contact – testing the waters. It’s a comforting gesture, he knows, and pretty neutral. That’s at least similar between Alteans and Humans.

“You know,” he starts, “my grandfather built this ship over 10 600 years ago. He’d come home every day and tell us how well it was all coming along. To anyone, it would look like there were no problems of the sort. But let me tell you this, whenever he thought no one was looking, the stress would show. I positive most of his gray hair came from building this castle.”

“Coran.” Pidge rubs her eyes. “What does this have to do with anything?”

Coran ignores her questions and continues. “There were lots of bumps in the road. Some minor, others… more extreme. One day, progress was stopped completely because there were a miscalculation and a few variables that unfortunately weren’t take into consideration. He came home that night and immediately hid away in his office. He didn’t get any sleep that night – thinking about any possible way to fix it. This went on for days…” – Coran’s voice drops – “For weeks... Eventually, my grandmother had enough of his mind constantly being on work. She was a very stern woman and she dragged him by the ear all the way home from work. She even dismissed all of the workers, and no one had to guts to tell her no! Anyhow, she had brought him back home to all of our family. and she made sure he didn’t go back to work for a while, instead enjoyed his time with all of us. He stopped staying up till dawn trying to find solutions. He finally let himself relax. When he went back to work, almost instantly he had a solution... And, well, that’s how the castle got its particle barrier!”

Pidge blinks up at him, no longer any sign of tears. “Are you telling me to take a break?”

“Well, I told you a story about my grandfather. But if that is how you’d like to see it, then sure. I think taking a break is a wonderful idea! Perhaps you could convince the others as well?” He plays dumb, but Pidge can see right through it.

“Convince the others?”

“Yes. Hunk’s been baking none stop which is a bit worrying. Keith has left the training deck in hours, I think he’s been there since this morning. Shiro and Allura have been on the bridge strategizing. And Lance – well I think he’s napping, so someone should wake him up.” Coran makes a mental note to bother the paladins and Allura more. They need to take care of themselves better. Honestly, must they be such workaholics. At least he can rely on Lance to value self-care.

“We have been working too much, have we?” Pidge glances back at her laptop. It seems to only taunt her, so she reaches over and closes it. She can work on it later after she has taken a breather. “You know what, Coran, that’s a good idea. I’ll go get them – and we can watch on of your Altean movies in the lounge room.”

“Ah, that’s right you have been learning Altean!” Coran beams.

“Yeah, it’s been coming along…” Pidge grimaces at the memory at being attacked by that hologram _Klanmüirl._ She’s taken other methods to learning Altean after that. “The others aren’t too familiar with it though. But I made a translator a while ago, so we just add subtitles to the movie.”

She picks up her computer and stands up. Coran follows her movements and tries to hide his wince at the way his bones crack. He’ll never admit it, but he’s just not as young as he used to be.

“That’s brilliant, Pidge. Your expertise never seems to amaze me.” Coran grins proudly. “Which is why I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll figure it out soon. You’ll find your family.”

Pidge eyes widen at the praise, and then a smile forms on her lips. “Thanks, Coran. I… I really needed that.”

“Yes, well. You don’t need to stress yourself over this. It’ll work out,” he says. “Now, while you go collect the others, I’ll go get the movies and set things up. That sound alright?”

Pidge nods. “Yeah - Oh! do I have permission to use my bayard if Keith or Lance act stubborn?”

“Is that really necessary?” Coran asks.

“Hmm, I guess not.” Pidge holds her chin and thinks for a second. “I’ll just use them against each other. Keith can convince Shiro to rest too, and if he goes Allura will too. Especially if I convince her that watching movies will help her bond and understand us more. Hunks should be easy enough to lure out of the kitchen, especially if I have Lance’s help. Yeah- okay, I guess I don’t need to use my bayard.”

Sometimes, Coran finds himself fearing Pidge (even while feeling proud). She may be small and the youngest, but she has the mind of an evil genius. It’s a good thing she’s on their side and in their pack. She’s a force to be reckoned with. And this is just one of the many examples as to why.

“Hopefully, it’ll be easy enough that you don’t have to do all of that.”

Pidge simply shrugs. “We’ll just have to see.”

Coran nods. “Right, well, you get to that and I’ll meet you all in the lounge.” He turns on his heel and begins down the hallway.

“Wait!” Pidge shouts. Coran freezes and turns back to look at Pidge. Suddenly, her arms are wrapped around his waist. “Thanks… again. You’re… you’re a good Packmate.”

“Ah… well… thank you, Pidge.” Coran pats her back.

“Okay,” she pulls away, “I’ll go round up the gang now.” She takes off in the opposite direction, towards Lance’s room most likely.

Coran smiles and shakes his head, continuing down the hall. As he walks, all he can think about is: _I’m a good Packmate._


	5. Party Hard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins go to a celebration, that turns out to be different than they expected.

Hunk’s eyes widen as he walks into the ballroom. It’s crowded with aristocratic aliens who seem to have no care in the world as they dance to the booming music. Said music shook the chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling. The entire scene makes him feel like he just walked into some movie or had traveled back in time.

Presently, the team is stationed on a planet called Esteirn for a diplomatic mission. Establishing alliances and whatnot.

The fashion and style that the is present on Esteirn are similar to that on Earth during the 20’s. No, not the 2020’s – the 1920’s which was _incredibly_ old to the paladins. It’s shocking to see a culture that looks so similar to something that had once existed on Earth. No to mention uncanny how the music sounds similar too. The fashion, the architect, almost everything is similar – except for their language which the Paladins have nothing to compare to.

Anyhow, the mission was successful as Esteirn’s government was very compliant and gladly joined the alliance Voltron was forming. The more popular Voltron became, the more confident worlds become. Resistances were popping up everywhere. This was the time to fight in their eyes, and Voltron would lead them to freedom.

After the diplomatic work was done, the Esteirnan’s decided to celebrate. Apparently, the Esteirnan’s are party people (Lance was ecstatic) and celebration of all kinds are held dear to them. So it seemed rude to just leave after the business was done. Allura agreed to stay and participate in their celebration, and so here they are.

The party must have started a while ago – or maybe some people just couldn’t wait and arrived early. People are still showing up so they couldn’t be too late. Besides, they were told to be there at a specific time. Party’s like this are never quite Hunk’s thing. This is Lance’s thing. Hunk prefers little parties where he can get to know the people, but nothing like this. And this was _huge._

Everything is bright and gold, with this sparkly confetti fluttering around the building and… balloons? Those look like balloons—the bubbly spheres rise and fall with no strings attached. Some people are playing around with them, bumping them up into the air and across the room. There’s a band playing loudly at the back with instruments that look nothing like to ones back on earth but make similar sounds. Three short aliens are cheerfully singing with their angelic voices.

The entire building is full of people, all dancing and chatting away with their neighbors. Lots of them have drinks in their hands too… A bar is at the side of the ballroom and there are servants walking around with trays holding a variety of drinks.

 _This is going to be an interesting night_ , Hunk thought.

He turns to look at his fellow paladins, most are all dazed by the party as well. Shiro looks a bit confused, probably because he never suspected the celebration would be something like this. Pidge shares similar confusion to Shiro, but Hunk has no idea what plans she might have in her head. Keith—the poor guy—looks terrified and completely uncomfortable. For a moment Hunk thinks he might bolt, but Keith gathers himself and holds steady. Allura also looks a bit shocked, but she steadies herself too. Coran looks excited and ready to mingle with the very interesting people around them. And Lance is – Lance is already moving into the crowd, looking ready to party hard.

Shiro spots him and grabs him by the back of his suit before he can get carried away by the current of people. “Nope, you’re staying right here until we make a game plan,” he says.

“A game plan?” Lance snorts, “dude, this is a party. All you need to do is go with the flow.”

“Maybe on Earth. But we’re on an alien planet with people we just formed an alliance with. We don’t want to do anything that might offend someone or cause trouble. And I doubt you’ve been to a party like this one.”

“Hey! I’ve been to plenty of parties, and some them were even wilder than this!” Lance counters.

Suddenly, a scream grabs their attentions and all paladins jump, ready for danger. In the center of the ballroom, a person is screaming—laughing—as they swing upside down from, tangled in red streamers (red silk?) that hang from the ceiling. Performers? Or just someone who’s had too much to drink and decided to have too much fun? They swing back and forth, spinning and tangling themselves in the streamer, doing tricks. No one else in the crowd seems worried, so it must be fine. The paladins relax.

“Really? You’ve been to a party like this?” Shiro asks, doubt clear in his voice.

“Uh- okay maybe not exactly like this—” It’s true that Lance has not been to a party exactly this, but Hunk has heard enough stories to know that Lance has experienced some pretty wild things.

“Alright everyone, huddle up,” Shiro commands, gathering the team closer together. “Number one, no one ends up on their own, alright? I don’t want to lose anyone here. Two, no one is allowed to drink, except for Coran”—Lance boo’s— “ _Lance_. _Only water for everyone else_. Three: always have a way to communicate to the rest of team. If anything happens, let the rest of us know. And lastly, at the end of the night, be back at the fountain at the center of the room. That’ll be our meeting point.”

Surprisingly, that’s all the rules he lays down. “Any questions?” He asks.

Lance raises his hand. Shiro sighs, “yes Lance?”

“Is this all really necessary?” He asks. Shiro answers with a raise of an eyebrow. There’s a pause before Lance shrugs and says, “Alrighty then.”

“Well, if this is all settled I’ll be at the bar,” Coran says, and true to his words heads directly to the bar. Everyone shares a glance with each other as they watched him stroll away. They shouldn’t be too surprised, considering all the interesting things that they’ve learned about Coran. Bu they sure didn’t expect it him to be so forward about it.

“I’m going to hit the dance floor,” Lance says and moves quickly away from the group, getting lost in the dancing crowd.

“Lance!” Shiro calls, shoulders dropping in defeat. Hunk can sympathize with Shiro’s worry. For many reasons. Lance likes parties and he tends to get lost in the flow of them – literally and figuratively. He also knows that as an Alpha, Shiro worries over his pack. As an Alpha, he is supposed to make sure everyone is safe. So, Shiro sighs and turns to Keith.

Keith speaks before Shiro can utter a word, “I’ll go watch over him.” Shiro nods and gives Keith a pat on the shoulder before he follows after Lance. It’s no surprise that Keith would volunteer; Lance is his mate. He’s also an Alpha, and an instinct to protect his pack and keep them together is strong in him too.

“Oh my god!” Pidge gasps, her eyes going wide, almost sparkling. _Uh oh, what kind of tech did she just spot?_ Hunk follows her line of sight to see what looks like to be a robot and a particularly looking fancy one at that. It’s gold and silver, with several gears showing along with intricate designs (kind of a steampunk look). Robots sure were her weakness, weren’t they? All conscious thought seems to disappear from her head as she makes a beeline to the Android. Hunk can’t help but laugh at her actions.

“Pidge!” Shiro shouts, panic clear in his eyes. He curses under his breath and follows after her quickly, leaving Hunk and Allura behind.

Hunk glances at Allura who glances back as they both stifle a laugh. They sure have an interesting Pack.

The party goes on around them and it looks as though things have gotten louder and wilder in the past few minutes. It’s a bit overwhelming. Hunk’s not used to this kind of thing and he was always with Lance when they attended things like this. Lance isn’t here though.

“Hunk,” Allura says, “Would you mind coming with me to find the Prevar?”

“Sure, I’ll help.” Hunk smiles. “But, uh, who’s the Prevar again?” Embarrassment colors his cheeks. He may have only been half awake at the time of the deliberation thanks to the lack of sleep he had the night prior. Just the usual anxiety keeping him up at night.

Allura replies, “The Prevar is the Estiern’s leader, Slequi. She’s the one who insisted on the celebration.”

“Oh!” Hunk nods, now remembering the Prevar. Slequi was quite the intimidating person at first glance, all elegance, and power, but after the meeting, she proved to be quite the quirky person. One of her attendants had brought in what looked like to be some sort of lizard and she had turned into a bubbly mess, fawning over the creature. It was kind of hard to forget that. “So, she should be somewhere around here then?”

“Most likely,” Allura scanned the crowd. “I figure she’s on the higher levels. From what I heard she likes to visit, so she could be anywhere. We’ll have to keep an eye out as we go.”

“Roger that,” Hunk does a salute and offers her his arm like a polite gentleman would. Allura giggles and takes his arm. Walking into the crowd, they move with difficulty and an ever-changing path. It’s not easy moving through a dancing crowd and they nearly get pulled apart a few times. Even so, they manage to reach a staircase that leads up to the higher level.

The higher level is less chaotic than the main floor, much to Hunk’s relief. It’s still filled with chatting aristocrats holding champagne glasses. A particular alien catches his eye. They’re larger than most and scream Alpha, even though they don’t have dynamics. They let out a big hulking laugh and slap the back of the smaller alien they were talking to, who nearly falls on their face at the impact. Something about them is familiar. Perhaps they were one to the aliens present at the deliberation? It’s likely that a lot of the people on this level were present.

Still… something about them makes Hunk feel wary. Hopefully, Keith keeps Lance away from them. Nobody wants some big, rowdy Alpha-like alien to try something with their Omega.

Tugging at his arm, he follows Allura’s lead. They end up running into a couple of people who strike up a conversation with Allura. They seem star-struck when talking to her, sparkling eyes with a blush on their cheeks and ears. Allura separates from Hunk, but they stay close. She nods and smiles at them, being as polite as possible. Hunk drifts to the side a bit more as a few other aliens join the conversation. But Allura never disappears from his sight.

A different alien, not associated with the ones Allura is speaking to, approaches Hunk. They’re tall, about the same height as Hunk. They have four arms, one hand holding a drink, two arms crossed around their front, and the fourth free hand on their hip as they stride toward him. Their three, neon eyes are narrow and gleam with interest.

“You’re the Yellow Paladin, yes?” Their voice sounds like a mix of chimes. Hunk wonders what on earth he would do without his bond with yellow at times like this. Being a paladin means that all languages are translated—or at the least the languages that the Lions have in their knowledge that they gained from previous paladins. Some languages aren’t so easily translated, especially when they’ve changed over time. Luckily, the translation ability the Lions and paladins have works both ways, so to the alien, he is speaking their language. He wonders what he sounds like to them (probably like himself but twisted to match their vocals). Written language is, unfortunately, not translated by the Lions.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Hunk nods at the alien. The alien before seems like a Beta to him at first, but something about them gives off a more Omega vibe.

“Are you having fun, Paladin?” They ask.

“Oh, yeah definitely,” he replies, trying to avoid any offense. “And you can just call me Hunk.”

They smile, showing off fanged teeth. “This party is tame compared to the kind we usually have. We have a lot more fun when they’re more wild, more crowded.”

Hunk’s eyes widen in disbelief. “Really?!” They have parties bigger than this? Does that mean there’s a chance this party could grow and become something huge? It’s crowded enough as it is, and he’s not sure how he’ll be able to handle that.

“Yes. They are fun.” They frown. “You don’t look like you’re having much fun.”

“Oh—no—I am having fun,” Hunk stutters.

“Here,” They grab a glass off of a tray being held by a nearby servant and hold it out towards Hunk. “Have some. It’s good and will help you have some fun.”

They shove it into Hunk’s hands despite his protest. He never really drinks much, since alcohol wasn’t allowed at the Garrison and drinking alcohol when there’s a chance you might end up on the battlefield in a split second isn’t a very good idea. Not to mention, their not supposed to drink on missions, especially since Shiro said so. Going against the Alpha’s order and drinking an alien, alcoholic beverage is a terrible idea… (Lance and Keith probably have done it already, Hunk bets).

He glances down at the purple drink. Is that glitter in it? It looks like something you’d find with a “do not ingest” label on it.

The alien wraps their hands around Hunk’s and brings the cup closer to his face. “Drink. It’s good.”

“Uh,” He cringes when he gets a whiff of the smell. While most alcohol doesn’t smell good this one just smells all kinds of horrible. His instincts are screaming him to dump the beverage before it gets anywhere near his stomach.

“Hunk!” Allura calls, moving away from the crowd of people she was surrounded by. She grabs his hand and pulls him away from the alien. “Come dance with me!” Thankful for the rescue, he tries not to sigh in relief as to not offend the alien in front of him.

He lets go of the drink and the alien grabs it with a smile. One of their four hands waves him off, seemingly not bothered by the interruption. Allura brings him back down to the main floor where most of the dancers are. They don’t stop until their near the center of the ballroom.

After that exchange, Hunk decides that, yeah, Allura is definitely an Alpha in their pack. Alpha’s watch out for their pack, just as she had done. Just as she has been doing all day for them, really. It brings a smile to his face. That she’s completely become a part of their pack, even without actually having a dynamic.

“I should warn you, I’m not a very great dancer,” Hunk says when she turns to face him again.

“That’s fine,” she says, placing her free hand on his shoulder. “I’m not a very good dancer myself.”

The rhythm of the music is conveniently slower this time but still had enough beat for the wild dancers to continue as they were. Hunk tries his best not to step on Allura’s toes and she has yet to do the same to him. He’s had dance lessons before and he knows Samoan dances, but not the kind of dances going on around the two of him. Even so, they managed to blend in with the crowd really well, so he calls that a win.

“So, did you find Slequi?” Hunk asks over the music.

“Not yet, but the people I was speaking to had seen her a while ago. She moves too fast,” she replies.

“Maybe we should ask Coran,” he suggests, looking over at the bar. Coran is still there, chatting away with the bartender who simply nods along to whatever he’s saying, but they're both smiling. Why does he have the feeling that Coran knows the bartender?

“We could do that, or we could— _is that Lance?_ ” Her head snaps upwards, mouth widening in shock. Hunk looks up and there’s Lance swinging on the red streamers they had seen others doing earlier. He looks like he’s having a blast. _He better not be drunk,_ Hunk thinks. Keith is nowhere to be found.

“I… I don’t think we should be surprised by that,” He remarks, eyes following Lance’s swings and spins.

“I suppose you’re right about that. I am surprised he didn’t do that immediately, however,” she says with amusement. “You know… I almost want to try that out myself.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but we still have to keep up appearances,” she sighs, her eyes narrowing up at Lance who is doing the exact opposite of keeping up appearances. Her duty as a princess comes first, but sometimes…  Allura shakes her head, “I thought Keith was supposed to be watching him?”

“He probably still is. There’s no way Keith would lose Lance, so he’s probably watching him from somewhere else. Maybe he’s on one of the higher levels?”

Allura hums, “maybe.”

They continue dancing to the music, drifting through the crowd until they’ve reached the other end of the ballroom. They separate and take a break from the dancing.

It’s then that Hunk hears a loud, squealing, familiar laugh. In a corner of the room, where fancy chairs and tables are set up, is the Prevar. She’s sitting in of the chairs, tossing her head back in laughter. There’s a drink on one of her six hands and she’s already looking tipsy.

“Hey, Allura,” Hunk taps her shoulder and points in Slequi’s direction. “I found her.”

Allura’s eyes widen and she turns to look in the direction he’s pointing. “Oh, finally.” She sighs. She takes Hunk’s arm again and they approach the Prevar.

Slequi notices them instantly and stands up. “Princess Allura!” She grins and suddenly Allura’s being pulled from Hunk as she’s wrapped in six arms. Allura’s eyes widen in shock at the sudden contact, she melts and returns the gesture.

Slequi pulls away and then she eyes Hunk with an amused smile. “Cute Paladin!” is all she says before she scoops him up into her arms. This would be a good moment to point out that the Esteirn’s are very strong people. There’s a reason the Galra have yet to take them over. Hunk only weighs like a couple of grapes to them.

“Ah!” He yelps as she holds him. Unlike Allura, she cradles him like a cat— bridal style—and rubs her cheek against his. “Uh, what…” He worriedly mumbles, his cheeks going red. This is the completely unexpected behavior of someone of royalty. However, said someone is technically drunk at the moment.

“Oh, I’ve been wanting to do this since I laid my seven eyes on you!” Seven eyes? Oh, right she has seven eyes. Most of them blend in with her black skin which is surprisingly soft to the touch, even softer than Lance’s.

“Um, thank you???” He says, unsure how else to reply to her statement.

“Prevar Slequi, if you don’t mind, could you please set my Paladin down?” Allura comes to his rescue once again.

“Aww but he’s so adorable!” She gives him one more squeeze— _dear god,_ he can’t breathe—before setting him down. He inhales deeply and almost falls over.

“I wanted to thank you for your hospitality,” Allura says as Hunk moves to stand next to her again.

“Oh, it is no concern,” Slequi replies. She cups Allura face, who blushes herself. “It’s an honor to host the wonderful Paladins of Voltron! And the gorgeous Princess of Altea! We are allies now and that is most valuable to us. Please, enjoy yourselves and continue to celebrate with us before you must separate from us!”

Hunk blinks as she places a kiss on Allura’s forehead, who is looking flustered by both the kiss and compliment. She then turns to Hunk, cupping his face but places a kiss on each of his cheeks. She pulls away and pinches them with a giggle, “so adorable!”

Yeah, there was no way he could forget her.

Slequi is pulled away from them by some of the other guests, leaving Hunk and Allura to their other devices. Both feeling very flustered by the encounter.

“So, you want to take a swing on the red streamers?” Hunk asks Allura.

Eyes widening at the question, she taps her chin thoughtfully. “Well… Slequi did say to enjoy ourselves…” She grins. “I don’t see why not.”

She’s an Alpha, but she’s still young and has a part of her that wants to just have fun. They all are young, Hunk thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo i read the great gatsby at school (and watched the movie) and this happened


	6. Pidge and Lance's Adventure Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Lance are in a troublesome situation.  
> -Notes about the dynamic and stuff at the end.

Panting, Pidge slumps against a nearby tree. She can’t hear any more gunfire or any thumping of feet. Relief washes over her. They managed to get away, but just barely.

Across from her, Lance is bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. There are scorch marks on his armor, and when Pidge looks down on herself she notes that there’s some on hers too. She doesn’t remember getting hit, but there were several close calls. Their opponent’s weapons are clearly more powerful than originally thought. Their tech was similar to the Galra which shouldn’t be a surprise.

Once she’s got her breath, she tries her comms. Hopefully, she’ll get a response this time.

_-Zzzth_ \- _bzzzt-zzz-_

Great. Still nothing but static. Really, really fucking annoying _static_.

Something’s jamming their connection and she’s not sure what. It was fine when they first got here but then when they tried calling for back up, they received nothing but static. It might be caused by the inhabitants of the planet or something on the other’s end. When they are sure they are safe maybe she’ll have a chance to figure it out.

At the moment, they aren’t being attacked but they're still in enemy territory. They don’t know the area, so they’re at a disadvantage. Who knows what kind of alien predators may be present, and who knows how long it will take for the enemy to catch up to them. Pidge wants to curse at their rotten luck today. At least they didn’t get caught, but she could not say the same thing about the Lions which were now heavily guarded.

“Still static?” Lance asks. He sounds and looks worn out and she can really relate at the moment. They weren’t prepared for an ambush like that. It had cost them their Lions and nearly cost them their lives too.

“Yeah.” She nods with a frown. “I don’t know what’s jamming it.”

“We’ll figure out,” he says and Pidge can’t help but wonder how he manages to act so optimistic at the moment.

They are literally the only paladins on the planet, being attacked by the civilization they thought they were supposed to be helping. The others are on another planet, in a different solar system, trying to work out some difficulties with the people there. They had thought that this mission would, you know, be a piece of cake since the aliens they were supposed to be helping—the Netha—said it wasn’t too serious but “would like some assistance”. Turns out it was a trap and they were working with the Galra. And the rest of their pack has no idea.

“If you say so,” Pidge shrugs. Presently, they were in an alien jungle, more or less, and it was strangely quiet, aside from the typical jungle noises. Birds chirping, the wind blowing through the weird, blue trees and the sound of a distant river. She would at least expect the distant sound of soldiers marching and shouting. But there were none. Hopefully, that meant they managed to truly lose their pursuers.

Lance straightens up, finally having his breath back and looking a bit calmer. He looks around and Pidge finds herself doing the same. The area seems free of any dangers but that could change in a split second.

“We should probably start moving and find a place to camp out until we can come up with a plan,” he says.

Pidge nods, “we should head north. There should be hills and caves over there that we can hide in. The hills will give us a good vantage point too.”

“Okay, that sounds good,” Lance turns to look back a Pidge with a nod. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to see our Lions from there— _holy shit Pidge you’ve been shot!”_ Lance's eyes widen when he looks down at her leg.

“What?” Pidge’s brows furrow together, and she glances down at her leg. Sure enough, the armor and suit are damaged and her skin looked charred and red. How did she miss that? It was only a graze and could be worse if the armor didn’t take most of it, but still a wound nonetheless. She hardly noticed it which can’t possibly be a good thing.

“Here, let me look at it,” Lance says. Carefully, she sits down on the mossy ground and Lance kneels down in front of her. The moss is soft and would make a good resting place. When they find a place to camp out, she’ll make sure there’s more of this moss to lie on.

“ _Ow, hey—_ ” She hisses when he touches the injury. He mumbles an apology, his brows furrowing together as he examines it.

“It’s definitely a third-degree burn, luckily it’s not very big.” Lance tugs at the tears of the suit around the burn, earning another hiss of pain from Pidge. “Sorry, I just want to make sure no fabric is stuck to it. The suit didn’t melt into your skin so I think it’s fine. Yeah, it looks fine, even though it’s still a burn but-like-you know.”

“Yeah, I get it. I should be good to walk though, right?” She asks. If she can’t walk, then Lance would have to carry her and that would only slow things down. They needed to move, and they needed to get somewhere safe.

Scratching the back of his head, Lance sighs. “I would prefer if you didn’t. But if you think you can, I won’t stop you. But if gets worse, you let me know. I can carry you if I have to.” He stands back up, offering Pidge his hand to help up her up to her feet. She can just barely feel pain around the area of the burn.

“I can walk,” She says. “but we should keep an eye for a source of fresh water. Since we don’t have any supplies at the moment.” All of their emergency supplies were back with their lions, which were surrounded by the Netha. So, the only thing they had at the moment was their armor and bayard. No food, water canisters, medical kits, tools, and whatnot. They would have to work with what they had. And “become one with nature”—even though Pidge had already done that before.

Lance pats the dirt on his armor off, “Okay. North-ward we go and hopefully, a conveniently placed fresh water source shows up.”

The forest seemed to grow as they continued on, the trees getting taller, plants appearing larger. It must be that way because it is farther away from the populated areas of the planet. The planet itself was about the size of Mars and looks alien much like most worlds they visit. The sky, for one, was an interesting shade of pink—cerise and was slowly turning violet. Stars were already beginning to light up the sky as the sun got lower.

Pidge mildly wonders how cold it would get. Hypothermia was a thing they would have to worry about. Infection, dehydration, starvation are all things to worry about. However, the region they’re in is relatively warm so it would make sense that it wouldn’t be too cold at night. In fact, she’s more worried about the heat than the cold. She’d choose cold over heat any day.

The sound of rushing water catches her attention. It sounds close, but it could be echoes from something far away. They can’t risk getting lost even though they kind of are already—but they can’t get lost to the point they’ll die out here and not at the hands of their enemy. Still, Lance turns and heads towards the direction of the noise.

They come across a stream of water. It’s pink, reflecting the sky, and the urge to just jump right into the stream is strong but she holds herself back. They have no idea how fresh this water is, if it is even water. It could be heavily contaminated and contain unknown pathogens that could kill them instantly.

Lance seems to beware of this as well since he asks, “You wouldn’t happen to have something to purify the water, would you?”

“Nope.”

“Think your armor has a tool that can test if it’s okay?”

“No—actually, I think I might have added something like that onto it.” Pidge taps the vambrace of her armor bringing up a screen. A while ago she played around with her armor to fix any quirks and make it more advanced—such is the ways of Pidge. She remembers adding a lot to it, but she likes to mess around with lots of things and improve them so it’s hard to remember if she had made something that could help them now.

Her finger swipes across the screen until she finds what she’s looking for. “Oh thank god, I have a scanner that can determine if the water is alright to use.” It’s capable of scanning for any kinds of contamination; pathogens, bacteria, pollution, etcetera.

“That’s perfect! Pidge, you are a genius!” Lance beams.

Pidge smirks, “I know. But we still need a container for the water to be held in.”

Lance hums thoughtfully, “maybe we can use one of our helmets.”

Pidge grimaces and shakes her head, furiously. “No way. That’s gross and we kind of need them.”

“Okay then,” Lance says with a shrug, “I’ll go look for something, you stay here. And by ‘stay here’, I mean sit down. You need to get off that leg. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Yeah, yeah. Try not to get lost.” Pidge waves him off and sits down on a large rock near the side of the stream. She relaxes against it and the cool stone beneath her helps. Lance goes back into the forest, muttering a quiet “I won’t get lost”.

Removing her helmet, she rests her head against the stone. Her hair is greasy from all the sweat and it was feeling way too gross in her helmet. With a sigh, she examines the helmet in her hands. There aren’t any scorch marks on it or any apparent damage, so there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it. So, the Netha must have some device that is jamming their connection to the rest of the paladins and the castle. She’s positive they were causing the disruption… but she can’t know for sure.

If she could figure out what it was, she could work around it. If they’re lucky though, that won’t be necessary because their team will have noticed that they haven’t reported back to them in a while. They’ll catch on soon if they haven’t already. God, she hopes that they get here soon.

Lance stumbles back out of the forest with a large piece of wood that’s been carved into the shape of a bowl. A very sloppy bowl, anyway. There are vines wrapped around his legs and torso but he completely ignores them as he holds to bowl up triumphantly.

With a smile, he says, “Look what I _easily_ found!”

Pidge raises a brow. Easily? The vines around him said otherwise. “What happened to you?” She asks. Of course, she already has an idea.

“What?”

“The vines.”

“Oh—you know. It’s a jungle, there are vines in jungles! It’s—you—don’t judge me!” He exclaims, pointing his finger at her defensively. “Let’s just check the water, okay?”

She laughs and pushes herself off the rock to sit next to Lance as he dips the bowl into the water and lifts it back out, water pouring over the edges of it. He sets it down on the ground and she brings out her scanner again. The scanner lights up as she aims it at the bowl of water. There’s an anticipation that lurks in the back of her mind. A worry that they both can’t ignore. _What will they do if the water is contaminated?_

They could go on without it, but having clean water would have them lots of trouble if they don’t get help soon. Dehydration is dangerous, and they’ve sweat out lots of fluids already. Pidge’s injury could use some clean water too.

The scanner chimes and then she pulls up the data collected with bated breath… It’s clean. The water’s _perfectly clean_ , which is shocking considering most streams normally wouldn’t contain such clean water. There was normally bound to be some sort of dangerous bacteria present but none was found if the data had anything to show for it. For a second, she worries that it might be an error, that the scanner was malfunctioning. It just seems to be too good to be true.

“So?” Lance asks quietly, anticipation clear in his voice. “Is it good or are we fucked?”

“It’s… It’s clean.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. There’s nothing contaminating it.”

Lance smiles, “That’s great. We got ourselves a fresh, non-contaminated water source! We’re not completely fucked now!”

“Yeah, but doesn’t that seem weird? You’d think there’d be something but there isn’t.”

“Okay, I understand where you’re coming from. But how about instead of worrying we just accept that we got really lucky and ignore anything weird about it. Because we have had nothing but terrible luck since we got here, and I think we deserve to have a freaking break and something go right for once.”

“...Alright, but if it kills us I’m haunting you.”

“You can’t haunt me if I’m dead too, Pidge,” Lance laughs.

“Watch me.”

He rolls his eyes and shoves the bowl at her. “Just drink it. I trust your skills enough to know that whatever data the scanner collected is accurate.”

She flushes at the compliment. Even though she knows herself that she’s a prodigy, it still nice when other people agree.

With a sigh, she brings the bowl to her lips. Her skepticism only grows when she tastes it. It tastes _good_. Too good. It just seems so unnatural. Clean, convenient water that tastes sweet and light on her tongue. Too good to be true. Yet, she nearly chugs down all the water.

“Hey there, take it easy. We can’t have you choking on water, that would be embarrassing.” Lance pulls the bowl away from her. “We should probably put some on your burn too.”

She simply nods and he dips the bowl back into the water again. He holds in over her leg. “This might sting,” he warns her before tilting the bowl. It hurts more than she thought it would and she whimpers as water pours over the injury. She gnaws at her lip as the stinging fades.

“You okay?” Lance asks, setting the bowl down.

“Been better,” she replies, wincing as she looks down at her injury. It looks more blistered than charred now that she’s getting a better look at it. It’s definitely going to scar and there’s a chance that the nerves there will be permanently damaged. “It’s going to get infected, isn’t it?”

Head bowing, Lance nods. “Probably.”

It might already be infected. She doesn’t say that though. Instead, she tells him to have some water himself. The face he makes when he tastes the water himself is priceless (like a surprised cat) and he makes a comment on how they better be careful because they might get addicted to it.

After getting their fill, they continue North but they try not to get too far from the stream. At the moment it’s a marker and the only source of water they have. They can’t afford to lose that.

Lance spots the cave first. They had moved about five minutes of slow-paced walking from the stream, up to more elevated ground like Pidge had suggested. The ground is rockier, but there’s plenty of foliage to provide camouflage. The cave Lance spotted is well hidden, not too small or incredibly deep. From the height they're at, they can see the stream they came from, just barely through the trees, but more importantly, they can see a Galra ship.

“Well, that’s just great,” Lance mutters. The ship is far from them, near the city— _near the lions_ —and appears to be landing. That means the Netha have alerted them. Which, frankly, is really fucking the worst fucking thing for them at the moment. Now they have armed Galra and Netha after them. They’ve been backed into a corner. Odds aren’t looking good for them. And Pidge really wants to punch something.

“Let’s just set up camp,” Pidge suggests. She needs something to do, otherwise, the severity of their situation will get to her.

Lance runs back down to the stream to collect some more water, carefully bringing it back with him so they have something to drink over the night. Pidge wonders off a bit to collect some moss that she places on the floor of the cave, creating a comfy surface to lie. They pretty much spend most of their time making their stay at “Hotel Cave of Temporary Relief” (as Lance called it) more comfortable.

Lance also makes an attempt to hunt for some food (truly becoming one with nature) with a spear he made from a stick. Using his bayard was too risky because the noise and light could attract nearby attention, so he had to use a stick. While he does that, Pidge works on the cave and tries messing around with her helmet again, desperate to get something other than static but to no avail. At least, Lance triumphantly comes back with two dead fish that were, unfortunately, not edible as the scanner showed that they were highly poisonous.

They’ll just have to good to bed hungry.

Lance leans against the cave wall. He’s taken most of his armor off while Pidge simply took off the chest piece. The armor was feeling constricting and the heat wasn’t helping. Her attention is focused on the screen in front of her. There has to be something else they can use to contact the others. Something they can use at the moment, but so far she’s coming up empty.

She slumps in defeat after an hour of tinkering and thinking, resting against the cave wall next to Lance. His focus us on the scenery outside the cave, keeping an eye out for enemies. Looking outside as well, she lets herself relax. It’s peaceful right now. There aren’t any signs of danger, just the view of a seemingly normal jungle.

“It’s getting dark out,” she speaks up. Lance nods, looking exhausted. Now that they’re relaxed, the adrenaline and rush they had been feeling before long done, they’ve petered out. Maybe putting moss on the cave floor was a bad idea. It’s too comfy and her eyes are feeling heavier by the second.

“You should go to sleep,” he says. His eyes still trained on the jungle as if the second he’d look away they’d be under attack.

“You need to sleep too.”

“I know, but you’re the injured one. I’ll keep watch most of the night, but I’ll wake you up later on so I can get some sleep too.” The way he says it sounds like a command, one that’s not up for debate. Maybe if she wasn’t so tired, she would try to make it equal but she can’t find the energy to oppose. Instead, she nods ad lays down on the moss.

She shuffles over and curls up against Lance’s thigh. He wraps an arm around her form, resting a hand on her shoulder. It’s all the comfort she needs to fall into sleep.

* * *

 

When Pidges wakes up, the first thing she notices is Lance’s scent. It’s stronger than normal, but that could just be because they’re close to one another. But something’s off.

“Hey, sleepyhead, have a nice sleep?” Lance yawns. It’s dark in the cave, so it must still be the night. Lance must have woken her up, so it’s her turn to keep watch.

As she sits up, she notices another thing differently. There’s more moss in the cave. Lance must have searched for some more while she was asleep. Some large leaves have been added and placed around the moss, creating a bowl-like shape. It almost looks like a nest… wait… _it is a nest._

She tilts her head as she plucks some moss off of herself. Omegas were known to make nests, but they typically made them when they were in heat. They do this to provide a sense of security. So either Lance just did this to keep himself from getting too stressed… or he was going into heat. God, she hopes it’s the former.

But if he was going into heat… it would explain the change in his scent. Fuck. He’s going into heat, isn’t he? She gulps and turns to Lance.

“Um, Lance…” she starts. “You made a nest.”

“Mmhm,” he nods.

“Are…uh… are you—” God, why can’t she just ask it? It’s not like it’s that big of a deal. Except it kind of is since they’re in danger. She inhales. “Are you going in heat?”

Lance’s brow furrows and his head tilts to the side. “Uh, not at the moment.”

_Oh,_ _thank fuck_. Pidge sighs in relief. That’s one less thing to worry about.

“In several hours I’ll probably start, or maybe day since I’m kinda under a lot of stress. It’s a bit earlier than normal but, you know, it happens.” He says, bringing Pidge’s relief to a sudden halt.

“Wait, what?” Pidge’s eyes widen. “I thought omega’s only built nests when they’re, like, _in heat_?”

Lance shakes his head. “Um, no. We do that a few days before, normally. If we’re not in our nest when we go into heat then, yeah, we’ll make one. Since I’m not at my _wonderfully_ made nest at the castle and it’s getting pretty close, I started getting an itch. So, now we’re in a nest.”

“Oh, huh. That makes sense, I guess.” Still, that meant it was something they would soon have to worry about. Especially since the others aren’t here.

Omegas are incredibly vulnerable during heat. It’s one of the reasons why it is crucial that an Omega has a pack. A pack is able to watch over them. It’s also one of the reasons why people thought that Omegas should be paired off with an Alpha. Alphas are strong and would be able to protect the Omega all while fighting off any other opponents. Their offspring would also be stronger than an Omega and Beta’s offspring. Instincts also played a part, as humans evolved in the way that best suited their survival. Alphas took care of Omegas (omegas belonged to them) and lead the pack, Beta’s worked as followers and obeys the Alpha, Omegas took care of the young. Of course, it’s not like as much nowadays because of the advancement of technology and people aren’t dependent on certain traits. However, there are still old-minded people out there.

Pidge knows that it isn’t necessary for an Omega to have an alpha, but they do need a pack. Much like an Alpha would as well; they’re just able to handle things on their own a lot better. Right now the pack wasn’t here, and Lance would need them. She may be a part of it, but she’s unpresented. She has no dynamic, she’s the youngest, presently injured, and not ready in any way to help Lance. She doesn’t know what to do.

Back at the Garrison, Lance was on suppressants. There was also the option to go through heats, as the Garrison did have rooms specifically for Omegas in heat and Alphas in a rut. But is was strongly insisted that everyone be on suppressants. When they went to space, Lance ran out of suppressants and that first heat he had in a while was rough. Hunk was the one to help. Shiro and Keith kept their distance because the scent of an Omega in heat can make their instincts go wild. Pidge also kept her distance, because she wasn’t sure how she could possibly help their Omega. Coran and Allura kept close by to help Hunk, but they didn’t dare follow him into Lance’s room.

“How’d you guess that I was starting to go in the heat anyway? I mean, was it seriously just the nest that gave it away?” Lance asks, bringing Pidge back to the present.

Pidge shrugs. “I could smell you. I normally can’t do that unless you’re in heat, so I figured you were going into it,” she answers.

Lance’s eyes widen, and Pidge feels a little off put by that. “You could smell me?” He asks in shock.

“Yes?” Pidge frowns. Something tells her she won’t like where this is going.

“Really? You do know what that means, right?”

“uuhhh… That you’re closer to going in the heat than you thought?”

Lance shakes his head. “Nope—and it better not is that or we’re fucked. It means you senses are getting stronger.”

“Oh…So that means…” Pidge looks at Lance for some help. All he does is roll his hand forward and nod…

“ _Oh.”_ She says, as it finally hits her.

Normally, she wouldn’t be able to smell Lance’s scent unless he was in heat. She can’t smell the scent of the others as well, except for Keith and Shiro when they’re in a rut. Since she hasn’t presented, she isn’t as in tune with the Pack as she could be. But now she can smell Lance. And he’s not in heat. Her senses are getting stronger, which means in a few weeks from now… she’ll present. Her own scent will get stronger too, but not before changing to match her dynamic. Her instincts will kick in and she’ll be able to connect to her Pack like she couldn’t before.

It’s… more terrifying to her than she’d like to admit. She… doesn’t feel ready. She’s not ready to find out her dynamic yet.

_In a couple of weeks_ , she thinks, _I’ll be a beta or an alpha._

“Pidge,” Lance’s voice brings her back again. “Are you okay?” Right, he can probably sense her distress.

“Um, kind of,” she replies, looking to the side.

His eyes narrow, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” Her voice feels constricted.

Slowly, he nods. Reluctant to let her off the hook. “Okay,” he sighs, “if you say so.”

Pidge winces at the dejected look he has. Omegas never like the feeling of being shut out, since it went against what they do best. She feels like she should apologize and the word almost slips past her lips but she suppresses it. Apologizing might make him more worried about her, and his instincts might tell him he’s doing a poor job. She doesn’t want that.

She settles on changing the subject. “It’s my turn to keep watch now. You should get some sleep while you still can.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” he agrees with a yawn to prove her point. His arms reach up to the ceiling as he stretches his limbs, before sliding down to lay down on the mossy bed. Tucking his hands under his head, he says, “wake me up when it’s morning.”

Not even a second later, there are quiet snores echoing the cave. He… he must have been tired.

Well, she’s got a few hours left before the sun comes up. So she busies herself by checking the comms again. Desperate to distract herself from her thoughts.

_zz_ _-bzt-zzz-_

She sighs. By now the others would have noticed something was wrong. They should be heading here soon unless they were being attacked by Galra and being held back. Still, they had to know that Pidge and Lance were in trouble.

It was only a matter of time before they showed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Thought I'd do some explaining of dynamics a bit.~~   
>  ~~First, gender has no effect on dynamic. However, sex (mostly hormones) does:~~   
>  ~~People with vaginas: either Omega or Beta.~~   
>  ~~People with penises: either Alpha or Beta.~~   
>  ~~Intersex individuals: Omega or Alpha or Beta (its a gamble)~~   
>  ~~Things like HRT also affect what dynamic people could get.~~
> 
>  
> 
> [Edit/Update]: Ya know what guys, I totally change my mind about how dynamics work. Instead what determines you dynamics varies (environment, hormones, genetics, etc.); to hell with it pretty much. 
> 
> The dynamics common in one's family does have a play in it, however, so if there are more beta's than their likely to be a beta and so on. So, the Holt family is mostly beta's and alpha's, in this scenario, so Pidge kind of ruled out the option of being an omega (even though it could have been possible). She's still trans tho, that ain't ever gonna change.


	7. Lance and Pidge's Adventure Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit goes down.

Keith growls as he looks to the floor. His skin itches and he desperately resists the urge to claw at something. Preferably the door. The one that’s locked. So he can’t leave his room.

 _Fuck you, Shiro,_ he thinks spitefully.

Of course, he knows that Shiro means well. Seeing as Keith has already attempted to fly straight to planet Teva, home to the Netha, to get Pidge and Lance without any plan. Well, that’s not exactly true. He did have a plan. Go to the planet, fight the Netha, rescue Pidge and Lance. Pretty simple really. But not good enough seeing as they have no idea just what situation Pidge or Lance is in.

Still, doing nothing was killing him. Shiro had explained that it was just his instincts that were making him feel so desperate and protective. Desperate to get their pack mates back. He doesn’t have much control over these instincts. He’ll act on these instincts the second he gets the chance to. Thus, the reason he’s locked in his room.

He understands that. But god does it irk him. He could at least help them come up with a plan… But he guesses it’s probably best that the level-headed members of the group deal with the plan making. Even if he wants to break the door down and stomp all the way down to Red and head straight down to Teva. When the time comes, he’ll just have to follow the plan they make and give it his all.

There’s a knock at his door.

“Come in,” he bites out.

“It’s just me,” Hunk says as he opens the door and steps in. The door closes shut behind him, locking.

Keith relaxes. If it were Shiro things would have only gotten tenser. One angry Alpha is enough especially when they’re mad at another Alpha. That’s probably why they sent Hunk down; to play peacemaker and calm Keith down. He’s already fought against Shiro’s leadership enough for one day. Any more than that and it could result in a fight that no one wants. Internally, Keith tells himself that he would never fight Shiro like that. But the Alpha in him says otherwise.

He wishes Lance were here. Lance could bring him back down to himself. Lance could calm his Alpha urges with the touch of a wrist.

“Hey,” Keith replies stiffly.

“How are ya feeling, man?” He asks.

He lets out a low growl as if to say ‘ _how do you think_?’. Hunk gives him a sharp look and Keith’s eyes dart down to the floor. Vaguely, he thinks Lance was wrong about Hunk potentially having a place as an Omega if he weren’t a Beta. He’d be a goddamn Alpha if he weren’t a Beta.

“Stressed,” he answers verbally this time.

“Obviously,” Hunk remarks.

“So,” Keith continues, keeping his gaze trained on the floor. “Do we have a plan?”

“Yes… and no.”

Keith frowns and looks up at Hunk sharply. “What do you mean ‘yes and no’? Do we have a plan or not?”

“Keith, we don’t know what’s going on down there. All our communications are being jammed. Until we can figure out just what’s causing the issues and Pidge and Lance position, we’re going to have to sit tight.” Hunk replies calmly and firmly.

“’Sit tight’? Seriously? They could be in the hands of the Galra right now! We don’t have time to ‘sit tight’,” Keith growls, baring his teeth.

“You don’t think I know that?! We all know that!” Hunk snaps back.

Keith flinches. He doesn’t witness Hunk get mad often, but god he knows he should never be on the receiving end. So, he takes a breath and tries to calm himself. “Sorry…”

Hunk’s shoulders drop as the tension leaves him. “Look… I know it sucks. Cause it does. It really, really sucks. But there are few members of the Blade down there. They’ll be able to report back to us since they’re communications are fine. Once we figure out what’s going on, we’ll be able to come up with a plan to get Pidge and Lance.”

Keith simply nods. “Okay… So, we just do wait then.”

Hunk nods, “Something like that.”

“Fine.” He’s not fine with this. Not in the slightest. But the fact there are Blade members down there is comforting at least.

“You don’t have to worry about them, you know,” Hunk says. “This is Pidge and Lance. They’ll be able to handle themselves just fine.”

“Can’t help it.”

Hunk smiles reassuringly. “I know. Instincts. We all got them.”

* * *

 

Pidge stares intently down at the knot she’s made out of a piece of grass. The sun has just started coming up and there hasn't been any problems with her watch. No sign of enemies or predators. Even so, she didn’t let herself fall for the seemingly safe night. Anything could happen…but it was still rather boring. To keep herself busy, she’s been playing with the grass. Not something worth her time or very productive, but it kept her hands busy.

Lance sleeps soundly against her, gradually beginning to stir in his sleep. He’ll probably wake up in another hour or so, maybe even a few minutes. Over the past few hours, his scent had gotten stronger. It’s hard to ignore now, filling her nostrils completely with a sweet smell. Something tells her that’s not a good sign for them. Unfortunately, she has no past experience to base this on. It could just be because her sense of smell has gotten stronger and he still has plenty of time left before he actually goes into heat. Or he was wrong, and he’ll be going into heat a lot sooner than they anticipated. She doesn’t know. But, she hopes that it’s the former.

Her hands freeze when she hears a peculiar sound come from Lance. It has her full attention immediately. It almost sounded like a whine mixed with a huff. She looks down at him, concern driving her movements. His brows are furrowed together then he’s shuffling closer to her until his face is pressed against her thigh. He sighs and his expression relaxes.

Pidge tilts her head at this action. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice tells her that this is normal; Omega’s seek comfort from pack mates when approaching heat. She wraps an arm around his shoulder and pulls him closer so his head rests on her thigh. Lance makes a pleased noise, almost like a purr and a hum, and relaxes against her.

She smiles. Her heart swells with pride as she rubs her hand in circular motions on his back. _Omega is safe and satisfied._

She flinches. That… that last thought was… it was more “primal”. More instinctual. That shouldn’t be happening so soon. Just last night her sense of smell had gotten stronger, she shouldn’t start having these instinctual thoughts or feelings until she closer to presenting… A “few hours from presenting” closer.

Something… something isn’t right here. None of this is right.

Pidge frowns, biting the inside of her cheek as she runs through all the possible explanations in her head. Maybe Lance going into heat is causing her own presenting to happen faster? He’s an omega, and omega needs pack members to help them through heats. Since she hasn’t presented, there’s not much she could do. But since it’s just her and Lance on this planet and things are being set into high gear, to ensure the safety of a pack mate.

But Lance even said that his heat was starting earlier than it should. Given their stressful situation, his heat should actually start much later than normal, not earlier. She looks down at Lance. She takes her hand off of Lance’s back and rests it on his forehead. The contact has dread tightening her lungs. His temperature has gotten higher. Lance…. Lance is going to go into heat.

Fuck…. _Fuck_! She wasn’t ready for this. She couldn’t help him. If what she remembers from her conversation with Hunk, Lance’s heats tended to get intense. This was not something she was skilled in. Had no experience for. She worked with computers and tech, not… not vulnerable Omega's in heat! Where were the others? Why aren’t they here yet!?

“Pidge,” Lance’s quiet voice brings her back. “You’re shaking.”

Pidge blinks and looks down at her hands which were indeed shaking. “Oh,” she says. She forces them to stop by folding her arms against her chest. She wants to curse at herself. Of course, Lance woke up. Her distress could probably be smelt miles away. Something stabs into her chest…disappointment in herself for disturbing her pack mate.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, sitting up.

“It’s nothing,” she says, too quickly for him to believe. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“It’s fine. It’s morning already but, really, what’s wrong?” He asks again. Pidge stays silent. He frowns, tilting his head. “You’re worried about me going into heat, aren’t you?”

Pidge nods. “It’s happening a lot sooner than you thought it would.”

“Yeah,” he nods, eyes flickering down. “It is.”

“I- I can’t help you. I don’t know what to do,” Pidge says, meeting his eyes.

“That’s fine. I’m sure you won’t have to. The other’s will be here soon. I know it,” Lance says. “And besides, I can hold on. There’s still time before it actually hits me, and the beginning isn’t as bad as you might think. It’s during the middle of the heat when things get rough. It’s like my body absolutely hates me then.”

“But what if it’s not like that this time?” Pidge says with a frown.

“Huh?”

“Haven’t you noticed that there’s something really wrong here?! You shouldn’t be going into heat at all and- and you know it’s all happening way too fast. Nothing’s going its normal pace!” Pidge exclaims.

Lance blinks, eyes wide and alert. His brows furrow in thought, and Pidge thinks he’s come to the same conclusion as she has. But then he turns to look outside the cave, frowning growing and body tensing. Pidge almost gasps at the new scent in the air, no longer of a sweet omega but a stressed and threatened omega.

She opens her mouth, ready to apologize for upsetting him. It’s borderline instinctual, automatic. _She upset the omega and that’s not okay_. But as a friend, she also feels the regret sour in her mouth.

“Lance, I—”

“Shh!” He hisses out, eyeing the entrance of the cave. She glances outside. It’s calm and all she hears is the sound of birds chirping (alien birds so they sound weird), and the wind blowing. Even though she doesn’t see anything. She knows better than to doubt Lance.

When approaching heat, an Omega’s senses increase. They hear better, see better, and can smell better. It was necessary in order to protect themselves since they’re at their most vulnerable. Right now, Lance senses something. And that’s enough to put her on edge as well.

Another interesting fact about Omega’s is that they are vicious fighters when they're close to heat. And don’t even think about trying to pick a fight with them while they’re _in_ heat. It’s another reason why Alpha’s typically had “claim” over Omegas because they could put up a strong fight and force them into submission. Beta’s don’t stand a chance against omega in heat, which is why they are seen as less of a threat to omegas and end up with the job to help them through their heat. Omega’s are more flight than fight, but god help you if they choose to fight.

They’ll also do many risky things to avoid dangerous opponents. For example, if they’re in heat and an unwanted person, most likely an Alpha, finds their nest they will dismantle the whole thing and move to a more riskier hiding place. Pack mates are typically fine but they should remain cautious around an Omega in heat that’s safe in their nest.

Right now, Lance is on edge. For many reasons. He’s approaching heat, his nest has been found, and a wounded pack mate is with him. She feels sorry for whoever picks a fight with him right now.

Silently, Pidge pulls out her bayard and Lance quickly follows her actions. While the voice in the back of her mind tells her to watch over Lance, she still steps back and allows him to creep out. He’s the one with the rifle and good aim. He’ll be able to take out whatever threats lurk outside the cave in an instant.

Holding her breath, she watch’s Lance peak his head out.

He only gets a few seconds to look outside before he jolts back into the cave as a spear comes shooting down, narrowly missing his head. The spear doesn’t look like the Netha’s weapons, but that doesn’t mean the people outside aren’t enemies as well.

Lance activates his bayard just as Pidge does. Hastily, Lance bolts out of the cave and spins on his heel, firing at the enemies. She can hear the stomping of others above her, and she joins the fray.

…There’s a lot more enemies than she thought there would be. They also don’t look like the Netha. So different and new enemies then. From their armor and weapons, it’s like they're a bit old-aged. How they managed to get this close to their hideout is beyond her. She doesn’t have time to contemplate it though, as another spear hits the ground by her feet.

With a growl, she bolts up the incline to meet them head on. Not the best tactic, but if they can fight them off just enough so they can make a quick escape then that’s all that matters.

She manages to take three down with her bayard by electrocuting them. She’s small and quick, while they’re a bit bigger and slower. Some strike her as Alpha while others are more Beta. She’s not sure how she can use this to her advantage, but she knows that if they have dynamics that Lance will definitely be attracting their attention more.

When she glances over to where Lance fires his bayard in rapid session, she’s not surprised to find that most of them are surrounding him. It sends her instincts on fire. She needs to get to him. She needs to back him up in case they overpower him. These unfamiliar Alphas _cannot_ _touch her pack-mate_.

One of them appears to be getting ready to take him out from behind, so she acts accordingly. She sends the grappling hook out towards them and it wraps around its legs. With all her strength she pulls back on the cable and the other slams down on the ground with a howl. She sends electric shocks up the cable and they scream in agony before falling limp.

Large hands grab her shoulders, lifting her into the air.

“Hold still!” Her captor growls. Kicking and thrashing them, she pulls her grappling hook back to form a Qatar. She snaps it behind her, and it slashes across their face. Their grip falters and she falls to the ground, rolling into a summersault and spinning to face them. They fall to their knees, hands covering their face.

She doesn’t have to time to catch her breath, as two more come at her. Using her grappling hook again, she shoots at the leg of the smaller one. Then she bolts around them. The larger one has a blowgun and shoots green feathered darts at her as she moves around them. She doesn’t want to know what those darts do, but luckily they aren’t able to get a hit yet. The smaller one hasn’t moved, their focus on untying the grappling hook around their leg. Not very smart are they?

She makes it back around and then tugs her bayard back. The cable tugs the two together, a classic move. Then she shocks them too.

“Gah!” Lance.

Eyes widening, her head snaps to the side and what she sees sends dread through her. He’s pinned down, surrounded. His bayard is in the hands of one of his attackers. The one pinning him down is large and is very Alpha like much to her dismay. They hold Lance’s arms behind his back with one hand, the other holds a thick, black rope.

Her grappling hook is wrapped around their arm before she even knows what she’s doing. Pulling hard, they're yanked off of Lance. She feels like smiling in victory until a large body comes crashing into her side. Yelping, her arm is yanked behind her back and she’s slammed against the rocky ground. A boot steps on her free wrist and her bayard is ripped from her grip.

“No!” She cries. Struggling against them, she hears a whimper. A different one has Lance pinned down, tying his arms behind his back. “Lance!”

Suddenly, there’s a stinging pain in her neck. Looking up, she sees that her captor has stabbed a green, feathered dart into it. Thrashing even harder, she feels the stinging gradually start to burn. The world starts to blur. She’s vaguely certain that Lance’s is calling her name. But it sounds like it’s coming through a wall of static. Her limbs become heavy as if someone had placed weights on them. Numbly, she notices that the burning has faded into a cool, tingling feeling that travels down her spine.

The people above her are talking but she can’t make anything out. The world spins as she’s hoisted into the air. Over someone’s shoulder. She tries to call out for Lance. She’s not sure if she manages to say it or if it just came out as gibberish.

The world starts to go dark and she panics. She has to fight. She needs to get them out of this. But she can’t move. Can’t fight. Can’t _protect_.

Sleep claims her consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took a lot longer than i thought it would... so i apologize for that. Been busy with work and things.  
> Also if you notice any grammar mistakes, please don't hesitate to point them out! It's much appreciated.


	8. Pidge and Lance's Adventure Pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge wakes up and is not happy. Where is Lance?

_Keith sighs, relaxing in his mate’s lap as he gently runs his fingertips through his hair. Lance hums a song that is always able to bring Keith back down from the rush of adrenaline and emotion._

_Lance doesn’t sing it often though, at least not when they're out in the open. When they're in their room, with all the privacy in the world, he’ll sing. He has a good voice too and is always able to lull Keith to sleep. Right now, Keith would love to hear him sing, but them in the lounge and anyone can walk in. Not that Keith minds. He doubts that the other’s would care or make fun of Lance’s singing. If anything they would enjoy it too. But Lance is a bit self-conscious about it, so he doesn't push him to. Humming is enough for him._

_Keith blinks down at his hand with is being held by Lance’s free one. He rubs his thumb over Lance’s soft skin. He smiles._

_Contently, Keith leans into Lance’s embrace, breathing in his soft, comforting scent. He think’s Lance is getting close to his heat since his scent is stronger and sweeter, almost mouth-watering. He’s also noticed a few of his shirts missing, and Hunk did say that Lance has a tendency to steal clothes to put in his nest when he’s close to his heat. Lance must have a nest somewhere, probably in his room._

_The topic of Lance’s heats is not something they ever really talked about. He feels like they should. Since… well, they're together now. Mate's typically helped their partner through their heats or ruts, or anything of the sort (relationships of just Betas are typically lucky for this kind of thing). And… if he’s being honest, he really likes the idea of being there for Lance. He’s not sure that’s his own desire or that’s his dynamic’s desire. Probably both._

_Of course, there is the issue of his own self-control. A while ago, he honestly found it hard to believe that the scent of an Omega in heat was strong enough to make an Alpha lose all sense of restraint. But that was before he actually encountered the scent of an Omega in heat, and when he did he understood._

_The first time lance went into heat, Shiro had to restrain Keith and lock him in his room for a couple days. Shiro had better control and experience so he didn’t need to worry, but Keith was young, inexperienced, and lack impulse control. He didn’t know what to expect until it was too late. It was like a voice in his head started screaming, urges and emotions clawed their way out from his from his chest viciously. It was like something took a hold of his body, he had no control. But the scariest part is that he was alright with it and loved the feeling of letting these archaic desires take hold of him._

_Hunk was the one to look after him, Coran and Allura offered to help but Lance still wasn’t familiar with them enough. Their pack had yet to fully come together and was still rough around the edges. So with Hunk being the only one Lance was comfortable with, he was the one to watch over him. Now, anyone can help Lance since they’ve all come together through countless bonding moments and near-death experiences. Shiro was even able to help once since he is able to keep under control (something about being a pack and the fact that he’s just good at self-restraint). The Alpha in Keith did not like knowing that Shiro was able to help Lance, but Shiro was the top Alpha so Keith couldn’t really act on the jealous thoughts he was having._

_Unfortunately, Keith has no idea what it means to watch over an Omega in heat. What did Hunk do to help Lance? Did he just make sure Lance didn’t overheat and stayed hydrated? He knows that heats can cause lots of strain on Omegas, so they need looks of supplies. He’s had his own ruts, which are similar to heats. But they're still different, and ruts can be handled alone while heats need someone trustworthy present. That he can do. There’s was probably a lot of intimacy though, lots of cuddling he would imagine. Hunk’s good at cuddling so he can see how that would help Lance greatly. But did Hunk do anything more than cuddling? Did Lance’s…_ desires _get, er, satisfied…? He’s… not sure if he can do that for Lance._

_Perhaps he should ask Hunk about it first, before bringing up the proposal to Lance. That way he can show his Omega that he is ready and is fully capable of being there for him. He can be a good Alpha… Lance’s scent must be affecting him a lot more than he thought._

_Even so, he tucks his head into the cook of Lance’s neck and inhales. Lance shakes from a silent laugh. His skin flushes just a bit when Keith kisses up his neck. He continues kissing his way up Lance’s jaw until he is finally face-to-face with his smiling mate._

_Lance’s eyes are shining and his lips move to speak silent words._ I love you.

_Keith kisses him._

*

The room is dark when he wakes up. Keith sighs and rolls over expecting to see Lance, and is greeted with an empty space.

Right…

Lance isn’t…

He swallows and shoves his face into his pillow. He can just barely smell Lance in the fabric. It’s not enough.

Glancing to the side, a green jacket hung up on the wall catches his attention. Slowly, he pushes himself up, eyes trained on the jacket sorrowfully, and gets off the bed. The floor is cold—the entire room is cold. He walks over to the jacket silently. The fabric is cold too, hasn’t been worn since Lance and Pidge went on the doomed mission. Pressing his face into it, he relaxes as he is met with Lance’s strong scent.

Pulling it off from the hook, he goes back to the bed, jacket in hand. Gracelessly, he drops back down onto it, finger gripping the jacket tightly. Like his life depended on it. His breath comes out shaky.

Just a little while longer until they get some news.

It feels like forever.

* * *

The voices around are loud and ring in her ears. Pidge groans and tries to open her eyes. But everything is too bright and makes the throbbing ache in her head even worse. She tries to lift her head up, but it feels like a heavy rock and her legs and arms feel the same. Just barely, though, she can move her fingertips. She can’t feel her toes, and it’s scary that she’s completely defenseless.

The smells around her aren’t helping either. They’re strange and unfamiliar. They’re not Pack.

She blinks her eyes open, it hurts but she has to know what going on. A whimper slips past her lips, and it must grab someone’s attention because suddenly there’s a large hand on her shoulder. The hand pulls her into a sitting position, and the already blurry world around her spins. Ugh, she feels like she’s going to be sick.

They say something, but she can’t quite understand them. Everything’s still fuzzy sounding, but the ringing is starting to fade and she can almost make out some words.

Another large hand, probably from the same person, rubs her back. She sniffs the air. The strongest scent, coming from the person closest to her, is that of an… Omega? Maybe? It’s not Lance though. Unless she shrunk or he got huge. But the scent still doesn’t match his anyhow, so it can’t be him.

Wait.

Where is Lance?

Among the many scents around her, his are not present. Her heart drops and suddenly something is screaming at her. She lost her pack mate. Where? Where is he? Where did they take him? She needs to find him. She needs to _move._

“Shh,” the person holding her up shushes her. “Don’t stress, child.”

Pidge grimaces. She’s not a child. She’s a paladin who’ll kick your ass, for fuck's sake. Now take her to her pack mate, dammit!

Something is held in front of her, she blinks at it and it appears to be a cup—mug, whatever—and it smells nice, like a calming tea.

“Drink,” the person says. “It’ll help.”

Pidge groans and tries to move away from the drink. She’s not stupid. Like hell is she going to drink whatever these people give her. It’s probably poison or some drug.

“ _Drink,_ child,” the person says again.

Pidge lets out an offending growl. If she could move, she would have sucker-punched them so hard. But she can’t. And even if she could, she’d probably miss because her vision was doing some weird shit. So she bares her teeth instead and struggles as much as her paralyzed body can—which is not much.

“Ha!” There’s another voice now, a deeper one. It must people to the person who holds the beverage. They’re loud in her ear as they bellow, “They’re just like a little _Estar!_ ”

“Yes, yes.” The other voice replies. “Just help me here.”

The deeper voice grunts, “alright, but if it bites me—”

“It won’t.”

A larger, stronger hand grabs her jaw. She grunts and whines, weakly tugging her head out of their grip.

“Not so rough,” the voice hisses.

“Ha! I think the little _Estar_ can handle it. They took out several of our fighters with only a string and hook!”

The other voice lets out a strange noise, something like a warning. The hand on jaw stops squeezing as hard in response. The softer voice must have some sort of commanding presence then.

The hand still forcefully, even after the warning, opens her jaws.

“Careful,” the softer voice says. She’s not sure if they’re talking to the deeper voice or her.

Warm liquid is poured down her throat, and she can’t stop it from going down. She almost chokes.

The large hand lets go of her and the deeper voice lets out a grunt. “There,” they say, “it’s your problem now.”

The deeper voice doesn’t get a reply. She can just make out the faintest movement, and the sounds of someone walking on gravel. Then there’s a sound of fabric being moved, like a curtain in a doorway. They must have left.

The person with the softer voice remains, holding Pidge up and rubbing her back.

“There, there,” they say, softly. “That wasn’t so hard now was it.”

Their tone is so gentle. It kind of reminds her of the times her mom would tell her stories to help her fall asleep after a nightmare. She wonders who this person is. If they’re a parent themself.

The person doesn’t say anything more, continually rubbing her back. They sit in silence for who knows how long. Pidge almost doesn’t notice it when a tingling sensation forms in her toes. She can move them.

She tries moving her arm which feels heavy and like it’s asleep but she’s sure it moved. She has control over her fingers again, and when tries she can start to feel her legs again. A headache she once had is gone completely, much to her relief. Blinking rapidly, her vision slowly, but surely, begins to clear and she takes in her surroundings.

It appears that she is in a hut or something. Looking down on her self, she notes that her armor is missing, having been replaced with some loose fitting robe. Her leg has been bandaged up and it doesn’t hurt anymore like it was never burned, to begin with. Although, she still feels incredibly sore all over.

She’s sitting in a nest, too, she notes. Which is weird and a bit off-putting. This isn’t a pack mate’s nest, and she shouldn’t be in it.

Whose nest is this anyways? She turns her head to look at the person holding her.

They look a bit bird-like, similar to the people that attacked them earlier, although their color scheme is different. They look brighter, more colorful, with larger feathers too.

They definitely aren’t Netha, who were more reptilian than anything.

They blink at Pidge, tilting their head to the side. “You should take it easy. The _wilet_ hasn’t been eliminated from her system just yet, child. You’ll need a few for ticks before you should try moving.”

Pidge frowns, “ _wilet_?”

Wow. Her voice… it’s just terrible. It sounds like she smoked twenty packs of cigarettes a day, every day of her life. It kinda feels like it too.

“The paralyzer you were injected with,” they explain. “The tea we made you drink is a solution that works to eliminate the paralyzers effects much quicker.”

Okay. So not a poison then… Unless they’re lying but it seems to be the truth. Her limbs are starting to feel less heaver, but her muscles still ache.

“What…” she pauses, struggling to speak. “Where… is Lance?”

Their eyes widen, and blink, tilting their head to the other side again. “You mean your friend? The _Kila_?”

Pidge frowns at the word. She not sure what it means, but she’s sure that they’re referring to Lance. “Uh… yes,” she says.

“They’re being taken care of.”

That… that doesn’t sit well with her. She doesn’t know what that actually means or entails, but she knows that Lance isn’t being taken care of. Only his pack-mates can help him. Only the people he trusts. Eyes narrowing, she lets out a noise that sounds like a growl and whine mixed together.

“Calm, child,” They say. “They are safe.”

No. No, he wasn’t safe. He’s not safe until his pack is with him. He’s not safe until she can get to him. They didn’t know what they were talking about.

“Don’t-don’t call me ‘child’,” she manages to bite out.

“Then what should I call you?”

“…Pidge.”

Smiling, the Omega nods. “Pidge. That’s a cute name. You can call me ‘Litos’.”

Pidge nods, eyes still narrowing in suspicion. She still can’t trust them, but if she can just get to Lance then that’s all that matters. “Take me… to Lance.”

Litos frowns, “I can’t do that, Pidge.”

“Why not!?” Pidge’s voice cracks as she tries to yell. She winces at the ache in her throat.

“Because they are in heat,” Litos explains, “We have people who are helping them. Their heat will be taken care of soon.”

God, she can only imagine how much stress Lance is experiencing right now. Hopefully, their definition of “taking care of” is similar to hers and not involve anything sexual. Cause if they're doing what she hopes they’re _not_ doing… she’s going to kick every single one of their asses. Then Keith will help double kick their asses. Then Hunk. Then Shiro. Then Allura and Coran. Sextuple kicks to their asses.

“No,” Pidge grunts and tries to move. “I have to see him.”

“That would not be wise,” Litos frowns. “You are injured and are still recovering from the _wilet_. They will be fine.”

“No! He won’t be,” she growls. Pushing away Litos’s hands, she struggles to stand. She has to get to Lance.

She gets to her feet and almost regrets moving. The pain in her leg is burning and it becomes agonizing as she takes a tentative step forward. Litos’s hands are hovering around her, prepared to catch her but they make no movement to actually grab her.

The curtain in the doorway of the hut is pushed open and Pidge freezes. They're shorter than Litos, but a bit bulkier. They smell like an Alpha, but not the same one that from before.

Their eyes widen when they see Pidge, looking her up and down. They squint at her before turning to face Litos. “Why are they not chained?”

“I felt there was no need to chain them,” Litos rolls their eyes. “They’re just a child.”

“Yes. A dangerous child.” The Alpha replies roughly. Pidge can’t help but think that they’re going to bare their teeth at Litos. The Alpha’s commanding tone should be enough for Litos to listen to them and chain Pidge up.

However, Litos remains unfazed and simply says, “They are injured.”

“They were injured before the fight.”

“Mangs,” Litos says, a feathery eyebrow raised. “You are in no position to be arguing with me right now.”

Mangs tenses over, eyes darting to the ground then back up to Litos, then down again. They bow their head in submission. “…right. Forgive me, Litos.”

Wait.

 _What_!?

Pidge blinks and her wide eyes dart back and forth from Mangs to Litos. Did… did an _Alpha_ just _submit_ to an _Omega_? That’s…wow, that’s definitely not expected. Then again, _aliens_.

“I’ll forgive you for your rudeness,” Litos says. “But for not consulting with me beforehand and putting lives at risk? We’ll see if I forgive you when I’m in a better mood.”

Okay, so clearly Litos is the boss here. Mangs shrinks at Litos tone, and it’s almost fun to watch an Alpha react so intimidated by an Omega. She wonders if this is just how things work here. Maybe Omegas were the pack leaders on this planet? I sure seemed like it.

“Pidge,” Litos says, “this is Mangs, the leading _Skri_ of our village and my mate. He’s the one that sent our fighters after the both of you after our scouts reported your presence. He thought you were working with the Netha and decided to act accordingly, _without_ _conferring with me._ ” She pointed glares at him, and his feathers seem to droop in shame.

“However,” Litos continues. “Whether he was wrong to attack you and your friend has yet to be determined.”

“Excuse me?” Pidge sputtered.

“Don’t sound so offended. We just don’t know if you’re an enemy or just some unlucky people caught in the fray.”

Pidge’s eyes narrow, unsure of how to reply. She’s not sure if she wants to be allied with these people, but she sure doesn’t want to be their enemy. However, according to Litos, Mangs attacked them thinking they were with the Netha—who were presently hunting down the two paladins—so maybe there was a chance they were on the same side.

“Well?” Litos prompting Pidge for a response.

“We don’t work for the Netha, if that’s what you’re wondering,” She asks bluntly. “We came here to help them at first, but it was a trap and they attacked us.”

“Is that so?” Litos asks.

“Like we should believe that,” Mangs speaks up, squinting at Pidge. “Why would the Netha call for help from two kids, and just attack them--”

“Because us ‘kids’ are Paladins of Voltron, and the Netha were working with the Galra.” Pidge declares.

Mangs eyes widening comically, mouth opening and closing, while Litos smiles.

“Well then,” Litos says and looks to Mangs, gaze stern and posture stiff. “You know what this means, Mangs… _Pay up_.”

Litos holds her hand out, suddenly beaming with a smug grin. Mangs groans and shoves his hand into a bag strapped to his side and pulls out a pouch that jingles like it’s filled with coins. He tosses it to her, not making eye contact.

“I told you I recognized the symbol on their armor.” Litos shakes the pouch, tauntingly.

“Yes, yes,” Mangs sighs, defeated and just tired.

Pidge… well, she just blinks at the exchange before her. Did that really just happen? So, they were at least familiar with Voltron, Litos at least was, and they made a bet over whether or not she was a paladin. Okay… then.

Pidge frowns, “Can someone explain to me what’s going on here?”

Litos blinks, tilting their head. “Explain what?”

“Uh, everything? Like what’s going on with the Netha? Why’d they attack us? Why’d you think we were working for them? Are you guys at war with them or something?” Pidge asks rapidly. Litos raises their hand, offering an amused smile.

“Perhaps you should sit down,” Litos replies. “I’ll answer your questions.”

And they do. So turns out the Netha aren’t even native to this planet. They came here claiming to be refugees, that their planet was taken by the Galra. And the Litos’s people, knowns as Quills, welcomed them with open arms. Only to be stabbed in the back when the Netha attacked them with high tech weapons, took their cities and land, and enslaved many of their people. However, some were lucky to escape and but they were pushed into new lands and were forced to stay there. The Netha haven’t made any attacks for a while, but they do have boundaries that they monitor to keep the Quills trapped in the small area.

So, very similar to what happened with the Olkari. The Netha had been working with the Galra for a very long time, too.

Pidge did her turn of explaining things too. Answering Litos and Mangs’s questions about Voltron.

Unfortunately, they did not see a way they could help Pidge and Lance get to their lions. They simply didn’t have the weapons or technology to stand a chance against the Netha and Galra.

“I’m sorry there’s not much we can do to help you contact your friends,” Litos says, softly. “But we can offer you a place to stay until you both a well healed.”

Pidge nods, disappointed. “Thanks, that’s much appreciated.”

“So, just how long do you think it will take for your friends to get here, hm?” Mangs questions.

“I… I don’t really know.” She frowns. “Soon hopefully.”

Mangs huffs, “not a lot of confidence there.”

Litos looks ready to reprimand him when a very stressed looking Omega rushes in.

“Uh, Litos, pardon my intrusion, but we’re having some issues in the _Kila_ hut,” they panted. Litos eyes widen, and even Mangs looks incredibly worried now.

“What?” Litos asks, standing up to face the Omega. “What’s happened?”

“It’s the _Kila_ that the fighter brought in. We haven’t been able to calm them down, they're incredibly stressed. They're even attacked some of the helpers.”

That instantly grabs Pidges attention. They must be talking about Lance.

Litos blinks, shocked. “Really?”

The Omega nods, “nothing we do seems to be working. At this rate, their going to hurt themselves.”

Pidge stands up almost immediately after the Omega says this. “Are you talking about Lance?”

The Omega blinks in surprise, almost like they didn’t even notice she was there.

“Um,” they say, looking at bit awkward and confused. They turn to Litos and ask, “Is this the one that was with the _Kila_? The new _Fela?”_

What? What do they mean by 'The new _Fela_ '? Were they referring to Pidge? Unfortunately, all these words that don’t seem to translate are starting to get _really_ annoying. _Kila_? _Fela_? _Skri_? These must be their terms for their dynamics. At least, that’s what Pidge assumes they are. Hopefully, _Fela_ is what they called their Betas.

Litos nods to the Omega ( _Kila_?). They then to turn to Pidge and answer her question. “Yes, they are speaking of your friend, unfortunately. He’s in the _Kila_ Hut right now. It’s where all _Kilas_ in heat stay and receive assistance. But it seems that he is not handling everything well.”

“Take me to him,” Pidge says urgently.

Litos looks taken aback. “Sorry, but only _Kila_ s are allowed in the _Kila_ hut—”

“ _Take me to him.”_

There’s a long pause, as everyone seems to look at Pidge in shock. The Omega— _Kila,_ Pidge guesses is the correct term—and Mangs look almost horrified by Pidges demand. Litos blinks and tilts their head to the side again.

“Alright,” they nod. The _Kila_ and Mangs turn to look at Litos in even more shock. It’s almost hilarious how they can’t seem to think of anything to say.

Litos rolls her hand, gesturing for Pidge to follow. “I’ll take you the _Kila_ Hut.”

Hurriedly, Pidge follows after Litos as they leave the hut.

The outdoors is warm, and they’re still in a jungle. Although it seems they’ve been taken to quite a distance from their original positions as they are surrounded by a ring of mountains. They must have been dragged to the other side of the mountain they had camped on.

The village is busy, she notes, as they walk through it. People a hustling around, bags were thrown over their shoulders, some are working in what looks to be some farmland. Strange alien animals are being herded into pens, but the herder is having a hard time getting a little one to follow the rest. There are several people working on a large contraption that looks like a boat.

It’s not long before they get to the _Kila_ Hut, which is by far on the biggest huts there. If it weren’t for the sweet smells coming from it, she wouldn’t have thought it was the _Kila_ Hut.

“Here we are,” Litos says. “I suggest you stick close to me, so they others don’t see you as an intruder.”

Pidge nods back, not really paying attention to Litos. Litos leads the way inside, and pidge follows closely behind.

The scents are overwhelming, causing her to scrunch her nose. It’s strong and sweet as to be expected, but a sour, familiar scent of a certain Omega does not go unnoticed.

She rushes further in, ignoring Litos’s call and the peculiar looks from the other Omegas. They’re probably wondering why she’s even in here, but she honestly doesn’t care what they think. She just needs to follow Lance’s scent. She just needs to get to him.

There are few _Kila’s_ crowded just off to the side, near the back of the hut. They all smell a bit stressed—more concerned and worried—and something tells her that’s because of Lance. She can just barely make out his scent from the others.

Hastily, she pushes herself through the crowd who all make startled sounds when they see her or rather are shoved out of the way by her. Just as she figured, Lance was in the center of the crowd, curled up in a nest, looking incredibly distressed and almost even in pain. A couple of _Kilas_ appear to be trying to comfort him, but Pidge knows they’re only making it worse. His obvious discomfort causes Pidge to growl at the other _Kilas_ , who don’t seem to realize their errors. They need to back off and give them both space.

They don’t react to Pidge’s growl, but they whisper and share looks with each other. Litos comes forward and gracefully waves their hand. The small crowd share looks with one another and spares Lance one last glance before slowly departing and moving to the other areas of the hut.

Once they’ve dissipated, Pidge turns her attention to Lance. His breathing is harsh and heavy like he just ran a marathon, but she knows it’s a result of his constant panic. Right now, he’s unable to think straight. The stress, heat, and overall instincts are just fogging up his mind and awareness.

This…this is why Omega shouldn’t be abandoned. Sure, they can be just a strong as an Alpha during their heat, but the longer they continue to remain stressed for during it will result in exhaustion and damaging effects on their health. Pidge needs to calm him down. But… she might just make it worse. He’s not in his right mind, and she can only imagine that how at risk and vulnerable he feels right now.

Still, she needs to try.

Tentatively, she moves towards the nest. Nests are supposed to an Omegas place of comfort. While as comfortably as this nest looks and feels, it’s unfamiliar. No scents from pack-mates linger in the warm fabrics and she’s sure this nest was already made by a different Omega— _Kila_. Omegas prefer to be in a nest of their own making, otherwise, it might feel like their intruding or in a place of risk.

When she gets no reaction from Lance, which is somewhat concerning, she slips into the nest. Her movements are slow and careful as she sneaks closer to her vulnerable pack-mate. Finally, Lance twitches, eyes flickering open to look up at her. His blue eyes are unfocused, but only for a moment as he blinks and realization seems to dawn upon him.

“Pidge?” He asks, as though she might not actually be real.

“It’s me, Lance,” Pidge replies, and can’t help be feel incredibly relaxed as she watches the tension leave Lance’s form. He even gives her a tired smile.

“Where… where are we?” His words a little slurred, no doubt from exhaustion.

“Somewhere safe,” she answers. Truthfully, she’s not sure if they are safe, or if she should trust these people, but what matter’s right now is making sure that Lance believes their safe and secure.

“Really? Doesn’t feel like it…” He replies, doubtfully.

Pidge frowns and tries to think of what she could say to make him feel better. Honestly, she does really know. Maybe she should try and crack a joke? That might cheer him up a bit.

Or maybe, instead of talking, she should do something. Actions might be better than words right now. Words aren’t going to soothe his instincts, her familiar voice might help, but there’s more that needs to be done.

Lance is still in the beginnings of his heat. She knows that because if he were in the true throes of heat, he would be acting far more like the…er, _stereotypical_ Omega in heat. In other words, Lance would be more delirious and desperate (dangerously so), especially if he remained without familiar pack-mates in which he trusts.

Right now, that pack-mate he needs is her. She has to bring him back down from his high, so he doesn’t become the stereotypical Omega in heat. Although, she still lacks experience. So, she’ll just have to do what Keith does and just… follow her instincts.

She inches closer to Lance until she right next to him before settling down, curling up against him. If she remembers correctly, Hunk did mention that Lance enjoyed contact—particularly cuddles—when in heat. She wraps her arms around him and presses her into the crook of his neck. Clearly, Hunk was right about that, as Lance quickly relaxes in under her arms. She can just barely feel the little tremors through his form. She holds him tighter.

Tremors aren’t a good thing, she knows this, because they mean his anxiety is pretty much through the roof right now. At least, he’s starting to calm down though. Another disheartening fact is that he is _burning_. Overheating is one of the main risks Omegas face during heat, and it can be fatal. He needs to cool down.

Luckily, as she looks over his shoulder she notices a bucket filled with ice. They must have been trying to cool him down beforehand.

Suddenly, there’s a _Kila_ kneeling down next to the bucket of ice, with a cloth in hand. She vaguely recognizes them to be one of the _Kilas_ who was trying calm Lance down before Pidge rudely snarled at them. They don’t enter the nest, but they do grab pieces of ice and place them on the cloth, and then roll the ice up in the cloth and ties it. They hold it out to Pidge.

“Here,” they say, “it’ll help cool him down.”

She’s glad they at least keep their distance, letting Pidge be the one to take care of Lance instead of trying to assist.

Taking the clothed ice from the _Kila_ , she shifts so she’s sitting up. Lance wraps her arms around her waist as if to prevent her from moving away and lets out a small whimper. _Ouch. Right in the honey-nut feelios._

Lightly, she presses the clothed ice against Lance's forehead. She almost chuckles at how Lance’s sighs somewhat dramatically at the coolness. Her pack-mate is getting better, and it thanks to her. Pride floods her chest and she smiles, letting out a comforting hum.

“I must say,” Litos speaks up, “that this is certainly…different.” When Pidge looks up she finds that the _Kila_ who had given her the ice was gone, and Litos now took the position, sitting calmly, watching the two pack-mates.

“What do you mean?” Pidge asks though she’s pretty sure she already knows the answer. It’s clearly obvious that the Quills and Humans have very different… lifestyles. At least when it involves Omegas— _Kilas_ , in the Quills’s case.

“Well, for us, _Kilas_ help other _Kilas_ during heat. We find much more comfort in one another than in other dynamics. Any other dynamics are not able to care for _Kilas_ unless they have a bond. Yet, your friend was only stressed by other _Kilas_ , rather than comforted," Litos explains.

Pidge nods along, processing this information. “Well, it doesn’t really work like that for us humans, I guess.”

“So it appears. Then what does work? You are somehow able to comfort him,” Litos ask, eyes narrowing in curiosity.

“We’re pack-mates. So, I guess we have a bond, like you said,” Pidge explains. Lance lets out a little whine, and she looks down at him. Right, ice, cold, gotta keep moving. She moves the clothed ice Lance’s exposed shoulder blade, to his back.

“ _Pack-mates_?” Litos tilts their head, brows furrowing.

“Yeah.”

“Hm,” they tap their chin, thoughtfully. Litos says nothing more, instead continues to look deep in thought. Pidge simply shrugs it off.

“Pidge,” Lance says, grabbing her attention.

“Yeah, Lance.”

“Your stomach’s rumbling,” he states.

And she finally realizes that they haven’t eaten anything since they were in the cave, and they didn’t eat much either. And, quiznack, is she hungry. Like she could literally eat a whole cow.

… _Where’s Kaltenecker when ye need him?_

“Hey, um, Litos?” Pidge says, awkwardly.

Litos snaps out of their thoughtful daze and blinks at Pidge. “Yes?”

“You guys wouldn’t happen to have food, would you?” Wow, Pidge, where did your politeness go? And manners?

“Of course, we do.” Litos chuckles. “What kind of question is that?”

“A stupid one, I guess. Just, um, is it all right if we can—”

Smiling, Litos raises her hand and cuts her off, “Don’t worry Pidge. I sent Haly to grab some provisions for you both, she’ll be back in just a moment.”

Pidge nods, shoulders dropping in relief. Well, at least she doesn’t have to leave Lance, who is now starting to get… antsy? She holds the clothed ice in her lap, eyeing Lance as he moves and like he can’t seem to get comfortable. He’s shoving the fabrics of the nest around, pushing them away and tucking them into newer positions, only then to huff and move them somewhere else. Pillows are even being tossed out of the nest completely, only a couple are left in but he keeps moving them around as well.

Pidge is just about to ask him what's wrong until it hits her. He’s just nesting—again. He’s trying to make this nest his. Which involves getting rid of scents he doesn’t what present, thus the pillows and sheet being tossed out of the nest. Working feverishly, he almost destroys the whole thing, before finally rebuilding it.

As he does so, Pidge silently wishes she had her jacket with her so he could use it.

“Hey, Litos?” Pidge asks, looking over to them. They seem to be watching Lance, eyes wide in awe and curiosity. To them, he’s probably acting very oddly for a _Kila._

“Litos?” Pidge tries again, this time gaining their attention.

“Huh? Oh, yes, Pidge?” Litos blushes lightly in embarrassment. The feather's on their face even seem to twitch.

“Do you know where my armor is?” She asks. “I need the under suit—or, well, Lance needs it I guess. It has my scent in it and it’ll help him.”

“Oh, Mangs should know where it is.” Litos raises their hand and flicks their fingers. Almost instantly a _Kila_ is next to them. “Could you obtain our guest’s armor for me? Just go to Mangs, he will take you it.”

The _Kila_ nods, “Of course.” Then leaves without another word.

Litos must be someone of high standing here. Royalty or something. They’re posture, the way they speak, and how everyone seems to act around them just seems to prove their position of power. Pidge could ask, but it seems a little rude to ask something so obvious. Still… she can’t be too sure. And besides, she wouldn’t be the Green Paladin if she didn’t ask questions.

“Does everyone just do what they are asked, or is it just you they listen to?” Pidge asks a little too bluntly—and rudely.

Litos doesn’t seem bothered though, in fact, they just chuckle at Pidge’s directness. “No, they do not just do what they are asked. But, perhaps my being the villages leading _Kila_ , could have influences on their decisions.”

Huh, and Omega as a leader. That’s pretty cool. Even though it doesn’t happen often on Earth, it’s not completely unheard of. Heck, Lance was technically hers and Hunk’s pack leader when they were a team at the Garrison—even though they failed the simulators many, many times. But that was a small pack, literally, it was just the three of them. This, on the other hand, was a whole village. That’s pretty sick.

“Really? You’re the leader of the whole village?” Pidge continues the conversation. Lance is not paying any attention to their conversation, Pidge vaguely notes, as he is showing nothing but a determination to make the nest perfect.

“That is correct.” Litos smiles at Pidges awe.

“Wow. But, what about Mangs? Did you say he was the ‘leading _Skri’_ or something?”

“Yes, he is the lading _Skri._ He leads the Skri of the village, but everything he does he must confer with me, especially if it is something of high concern. Which, unfortunately, he often forgets to do,” Litos frowns, almost like she’s glaring at a mental image of him. “He has a habit of being impulsive. But his impulsiveness has protected our village on multiple occasions.”

“Oh, so the _Skri_ are warriors then?” Pidge asks.

“Yes. Do you not have Skri from where you are from?”

“No—I mean, I think we do. We have different names for them, though.”

“Really? What do you call your _Skri,_ then?”

“We call then Alphas,” Pidge answers. “And our Betas are your _Felas_ , I think. _Kilas_ are called Omegas, too.”

Litos nods along, “That’s interesting. But what do you call your _Grevos?”_

Uh, _Grevos?_ Pidge frowns, squinting at Litos as if they were trying to pull her leg. “We… we don’t have any _Grevos?_ We only have Alphas, Betas, and Omegas.”

“You only have three dynamics?” Litos askes, shocked, and tilts their head to the side.

“Uh huh. So, what are _Grevos_ , then if you don’t mind me asking?” Her curiosity has been spiked.

“They are our scouts,” She states. “They watch over the village, while our _Skris_ handle the combat. And our _Felas_ are the workers of the village; the farmers and bakers, and so on. Us _Kilas_ are the leaders. We maintain the village and all decisions must be run by us first. Our goal is to keep the village stable and functioning.”

Huh, so _Kilas_ here had the position an Alpha would because of they ‘homemaking’ nature. At least, that’s what Pidge is getting from this—more assuming. Back on Earth, there are some packs with Omega leaders for that reason.

“So, could you explain to me what your dynamics roles are then?” Litos asks.

“Sure, but it's not really straightforward,” Pidge replies. “Alphas are seen as the leaders, Betas are the ‘fighters’ and ‘scouts’ combined, I guess. And Omegas are the homemakers who try to keep the pack together. But it varies sometimes.”

“That’s certainly different,” Litos comments. “Similar, but different.”

“Yeah, but our dynamics don’t always control the role we play. Like, Lance was the pack leader once, before we all started being paladins, even though he was an omega.”

“I see, that makes sense. Your dynamics may affect actions and behaviors, but not the roles they have in a group.” Litos smiles, looking proud for understanding it easily.

Honestly, Pidge can’t believe that an alien understands that idea better than some of the idiots on Earth. Like her asshole neighbor Ricky—that sexist piece of shit, who clearly still thinks it’s the 1800’s… _Fuck you, Ricky._

Still, kudos to Litos for being better than some humans on Earth.

“We are very similar, but our behaviors are not quite affected while are roles are generally set in stone,” Litos says. “But, maybe that change. We are growing civilization."

Lance’s head bumps into Pidge’s side, and he curls back up against her. The nest has been completely reformed, and something tells her that Lance might not be completely okay with how it turned out. He wraps his arms around her, like a clingy koala, and sighs. When she gets her armor, he’ll be able to add it to the nest and hopefully, it will make him feel more comfortable.

Remembering that she needs to keep him cool, she dabs the clothed ice over his skin again. The cloth is practically soaking as the ice melted quite a bit while it was sitting in her lap. But Lance doesn’t mind and relaxes even more with an exaggerated sigh.

Aside from the chitchat coming from the others in the hut who have become used to Pidge’s presence, they sit in silence. The _Kila_ who had given Pidge the ice, who Pidge assumes to be Haly, approaches them while carrying two large boxes in both hands.

Is Pidge blushing? She thinks she might be blushing. But you can’t really blame her because holy shit was Haly _gorgeous._ Honestly, she’s surprised she didn’t notice how pretty Haly(?) is. Then again, she was focused on her distressed pack-mate at the time.

Haly(?) places the boxes down next to the nest. Pidge takes a peek at its contents. One box is filled with food, strange fruits and a few containers filled with something that smells _delicious_. Her stomach is growling loudly now. The other box is filled with packets of water.

“Thank you, Haly”—Haly!—“If you don’t mind, could you sit with us, just in case we need some more assistance?” Litos politely asks, giving Pidge a small, yet _knowing_ glance.

Haly nods, “Sure thing, I’ve got nothing better to do. Besides, it's not every day you that get to hang with aliens who are also Paladins of Voltron.”

“Wait, you know we’re Paladins?” Pidge asks, surprised. Lance makes a noise and finds her hand moving on its own to his hair, running her fingers through gently. He makes a pleased noise.

“The whole village knows. Lesly blabbed to everyone that Mangs had to pay Litos thirty GAC over a bet they had about you being Paladins,” Haly explains with a chuckle. “Mangs isn’t too happy at the moment. He’s got the young _Skri_ doing laps around the village. Poor suckers.”

Litos even chuckles, faintly. “He’s going to be upset until I decide he’s no longer in trouble.”

They share a laugh. Idly, Pidge wonders how Litos ended up being mates with Mangs, so she asks. The answer she gets is long and hilarious. Turns out they had many adventures and bonding moments which eventually resulted in their relationship. It reminds her of a _certain_ couple who couldn’t seem to get along unless they were having an incredibly “romantic” bonding moment.

 _Excuse you, Pidge, a bonding moment in an elevator in which we had to re-enact the scene from the Emperor’s New Groove, is all kinds of hella romantic,_ Pidge can just recall what Lance had said some time ago.

Pidge almost loses track of time until a Kila drops off their armor, bowing their head to Litos, before absconding elsewhere.

She grabs the under-suits of their armor and shakes Lance awake. He groans at first, shoving his face further into the nest like an angsty teenager. Rolling her eyes, Pidge drops the under-suits on top of him which immediately gets his attention. It’s almost cute how he blinks, eyes going wide and surprised before he beams and goes back to fixing the nest.

It doesn’t take him long to do it this, finishing in only a few minutes. He seems happier now, too, as he curls back up against her, dozing off once more.

The amount of pride that fills Pidge’s chest is almost immeasurable. She helped her pack-mate. She made him happy.

However, she still knows it's not perfect. That’s there’s probably some form of discomfort he’s not letting show, or not yet experiencing as it’s still just the beginning of his heat. Tomorrow, if they aren’t rescued, will be a much different story. But right now, she feels like she can do it. She can be a good pack-mate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kind of rushed, so there might be a lot of grammar mistakes, which I apologize for. Honestly, I should be studying right for my mid-term tomorrow. But oh well, writings more fun. Except when making words. That sucked.


	9. Pidge and Lance's Adventure Pt. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team starts planning. Pidge starts thinking. And Lance is trying not to get heat sickness.

The second he heard that a member of the Blade was going to contact them and give them the intel they require Keith had bolted to the bridge. Everyone else was already present by the time he arrived. Hunk sat in his spot and spared Keith a slightly amused look.

“Dude,” Hunk began, “do you have, like, Galra super speed? We only just commed you about five seconds ago?”

“No, Hunk, I don’t have ‘Galra super speed.'” At least, he doesn’t think so. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. Either way, he’s not telling Hunk that.

“Now that everyone’s here,” Allura speaks up. “Let’s see what the Blade has found for us.”

She brings up the communications, and the expressionless face of a Galra soldier appears on the screen. Keith vaguely recognizes their face from the few times he spent around the Blade.

“Princess Allura,” The Galra nods in greeting.

“Trill,” Allura says, “what news do you have for us.”

_Please, be good news. Please be good news. Please be good news._

“The Netha have a tower that is responsible for severing your communications to your fellow paladins. I’ve found its location and, while it’s heavily guarded, it should be easy for your lions to disable.”

“Yellow and I can easily deal with that,” Hunk says. “Just ram ourselves right into it. Easy-peasy.”

“Unfortunately, some more fleets are on their way. The blue and green lions have been captured, and the Empire does not want to risk losing them.”

Keith’s heart jumps. If the lions are captured, then— _no_.

“What about Pidge and Lance?” He asks, desperation clear in his voice.

“Unlike the lions, your fellow paladins managed to escape capture. However, there have not been any signs of them since fled into the forest. Their whereabouts remain unknown,” Trill answers.

Keith finds himself unsure how to respond. Half of him is relieved that they aren’t captured, meaning they can go in without worrying about putting their lives at risk. He can here Shiro’s voice speaking, most likely formulating a plan now that they have what they need.

However, they don’t know where Lance and Pidge are. They could still be in danger. What if they’re both injured and lost down there? Predators, starvation, and dehydration are risks too.

He feels a hand on his shoulder which barely pulls him out his head. Hunk’s giving him a reassuring smile and nod. Then he focuses on Shiro and Allura with a strongly determined look.

The tension in Keith’s shoulders fades away just a bit. Focus now, worry later. He follows Hunk’s example and focuses on the makings of the plan.

* * *

 

            Pidge feels like she has to applaud Lance’s nest building skills. Seriously, she slept like a baby last night. Lance had done some more shuffling around in the nest last night, before settling. The result would look like a mess to others, but Pidge knew that this was an ideal mess. At least, that’s what her instincts told her.

Although, it was weird being surrounded by a lot of people of which some who were in heat at that. It’s morning now, and the others in the tent are starting to wake up. As soon as someone was moving, Pidge ended up wide awake and alert. Lance remains passed the fuck out and curled up in the nest next to Pidge.

She expected Lance to be bothered by the fact they the were surrounded by strangers. He said it was okay, but she has a feeling he was only just saying that. He will deal with, but the situation itself is not providing him the comfort he desires. Still, she wishes they could do a little more. Lance has gotten used to Litos’s and Haly’s presence—he gave Pidge a smug, knowing look when he saw Haly.

At least there aren’t any Alphas— _Skri—_ present. Unfamiliar Alphas would only set back any progress Lance has made to become settled. Pidge finds herself growling at the idea of any Alpha’s nearing Lance.

It shocks her, honestly, how possessive and protective she could get… Which starts to get her to think.

They’re on an alien planet, with for different dynamics, and different ways of running things. To them, Lance is a _Kila_ and Pidge is _Fela_. Now, she assumes _Fela_ is their Beta. But they’re _aliens_. They could have a different sense of smell or a different way of determining dynamics altogether.

Anyway, the point Pidge is trying to make is that… maybe she was wrong about being a Beta. Perhaps she’s Beta-like to the Quills but Alpha to humans. If there is one thing she is sure of it’s that a Beta’s sense of smell shouldn’t be this powerful and this possessive behavior is not Beta-like at all. This is all Alpha. The growling, glaring at anyone skeptically, keeping the Omega of the pack close and safe. Nothing like that seems Beta-like.

So, she might be an Alpha. And she’s unsure of how to feel about that.

An arm wraps around her waist, and she looks down at Lance, immediately alert. He whimpers and curls up in a tighter ball against her side. Fear stabs into her chest, and her hands are hovering over Lance’s form carefully. His arm is wrapped tightly around his lower abdomen.

“Lance?” She asks, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Lance groans, blinking his eyes open. “Cramps,” he breathes out.

“Oh. Do you want me to grab you something?”

“A heating pad would be great,” he croaks.

Pidge nods, “I’ll see if we’ve got that.”

Just outside the nest is a box full of supplies that Haly had given them. She crawls over to it and snoops through it. She finds some creams for muscle pain, which could help, but no heating pads. There are also some smooth stones, a few oils, and a small jaw containing small berries(?).

She returns to Lance in the center of the nest and hands him the small jar of cream.

“Sorry, we weren’t given a heating pad. But I think that should help a bit,” Pidge says and curls back up into the nest.

“That’s fine,” Lance says, opening the jar and setting it down on a pillow. He pushes himself out of the nest and tugs at the robe he wears. It’s similar to Pidges but with different designs and color scheme. The dress falls off his shoulders, exposing his torso.

There are a few scars on his back, from previous battles they fought long ago. A particular think, long one was from when a soldier sliced their sword at across Lance’s back. Pidge wasn’t there for it, but Allura was. She used her magic-quintessence manipulation abilities to help it heal since they had been in a sticky situation and would not have made it in time to get Lance to a healing pod. It was a severe wound, and it was worth it according to Allura.

Aside from scares, she can faintly make out some freckles doting across the top of his shoulders. They don’t get sun often, but when they do Lance makes sure to get as much as possible, so the freckles never do get the chance to properly fade away. Pidge used to have freckles back on Earth, they were barely noticeable though, but now they have long since disappeared.

Pidges hums thoughtfully as she tries to make some constellations out of the freckles on Lance’s back, and, while she does that, Lance applies the cream to his lower abdomen.

“Oh that is so much better,” he sighs in relief, shoulder slumping, and closes the jaw.

“Glad it works,” Pidge says.

“Yeah, might want to get some more of these before we have to leave.” He says with a sneaky grin. He twists to face Pidge and hands her the jar. “I think that stuff could be used as a stress-relief cream too.”

“Ha, ha. I’m not that much of a stress-ball. Keith is the stress-ball of the team; you should know that.”

“That is true,” Lance says, smiling a bit fondly at the thought. “Still, you should make sure to keep a hold of that cream cause we sure ain’t going back to the castle without it.”

“…did you just say ‘ain’t’?”

 

“…no.”

“Pffttt-ha, ha, ha!” Pidge loudly laughs causing the other occupants of the tent to look over to them. “Oh, my god. You’ve really been spending too much time with Keith!”

“Hey! I mean, you’re not wrong, but hey! I got Keith to say razzle dazzle once!”

“Oh, surrree. I’ll believe that when I see it,” Pidge says with a grin. She has no doubt that Lance is probably right. Lance and Keith do influence each other a lot more than they probably realize, and she has seen Keith say some things very similar to Lance’s own speech such as “how crow!” or “what the cheese.” So it’s not hard to imagine Keith saying “razzle-dazzle,” but like heck is she going not going to mess with Lance a little.

Lance huffs and buries himself in the nest. Pidge rolls her eyes, pats his shoulder, and relaxes into the nest as well.

The nest provides satisfying comfort, and could Pidge almost melt into it if it weren’t for the noise of the bustling strangers around them. Her senses remain vigorously active, never letting her ease into security. Every time someone gets a little too close to the nest she gets irritated and gives them a glare, sometimes with a growl. Whenever she feels Lance get tense or scared and trust her she can literally smell any spike of fear in Lance, she finds herself trying to shield him from everything outside of the nest.

Man… she’s an alpha, isn’t she? Of course, she is only in this cycle of doubt because she can’t actually smell her own scent and therefore figure out what she is.

“Hey, Lance?” She says, seeing as she might as look for answers from someone who actually knows her dynamic.

“Hm?” He hums from his position under the sheets, having not moved for the past couple hours.

“Do… do I smell like an Alpha to you?” She shrinks with anticipation.

Lance’s head pops out from under the covers, and he gives her a confused look. Squinting, he sniffs the air for a moment. There’s a pause before he looks her dead in the eye.

“Not in the slightest,” he says.

“Wait, really?” Pidge asks, surprised.

“Really, really.”

Pidge shoves him, “Don’t quote Shrek. Seriously, I don’t smell like an Alpha to you?”

“Pidge, I can one-hundred percent say that you smell like a Beta. Trust me. As an omega in heat, _I’d know_ if you were an Alpha. Plus, if you were an Alpha, you’d be going through a rut right now.”

Right. How could Pidge forget that? A newly presented Alpha in the presence of an Omega in heat would go into an instant rut only from lack of control inexperience. Usually, ruts tend to happen sometime time later after they’ve presented. After their first rut, they tend to be more strongly-willed and won’t go into a rut in the presence of an Omega in heat. Most of the time anyway.

“Honestly, Pidge, it’s starting to think you hit your head a little too hard when we got ambushed,” Lance comments. “You’re supposed to be the smart, know-it-all of the group. Not me.”

Pidge rolls her eyes, “I never really paid attention in health class.”

“Right, because you were too busy hacking in the Garrison’s databases and messing with the teacher’s profiles, and whatever hacker-y stuff you do.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Heats and ruts were always weirdly complicated and fickle things.

If Pidge remembers correctly, Shiro was worried Keith would go into a rut when Lance went into heat for the first time since he was off his suppressants. Keith had been without contact for almost a year and lacked exposure to Omega scents. For Keith to suddenly be exposed to Lance’s strong smell brought concern for a potential alpha in a rut as well. Luckily, Keith proved to handle it better than expected.

And by that, she means that Keith didn’t go into a rut, but Shiro still had to lock Keith in his room.

Of course, Shiro was in a similar boat as Keith since he been a prisoner for a year. Pidge knows that Shiro was also worried about his own self-control, but, like always, Shiro was able to handle it. Although, he still had to keep his distance at the time.

Things are better now though, now that they’ve become a firm pack. They’re familiar with each other now. Heats and ruts shouldn’t affect pack mates as strongly as before. Unless they were mated. Keith and Lance are mates, but as far as Pidge knows they aren’t ‘mated’ yet. And by ‘mated’ she means they haven’t fucked yet, and Lance has yet to sport a mark on his neck, and neither has Keith. They were taking things slow.

But, boy, would it have been embarrassing if Pidge turned out to be an Alpha and had gone into a rut because of Lance. Keith would not have liked to hear that Pidge was trying to steal his mate. Although would she really go for Lance if she was an Alpha in a rut? Like, as far as Pidge knows, she is as gay as can be. Only girls on the mind—especially robot girls. But, sense does tend to go out the window when you mix ruts and heats together. However, seeing as she is a Beta, thankfully, they don’t have to worry about that situation.

Still, it is funny to imagine the look on Keith’s face if he found out the Pidge, of all people, ended up sweeping his mate of his feet while they were gone.

“Pidge,” Lance says. “Is your head still stuck in the cloud or what?”

“Huh? What?” Pidge blinks and looks over to see Lance frowning.

“You okay there? You looked like you were thinking a little too hard.”

“Well, I was just thinking about how Keith would react if he found out I was an Alpha and tried to put the moves on you.” Well, that wasn’t a lie.

Lance blinks rapidly at Pidge, astonished, before breaking out into a giggle. “Holy crap! His face would be priceless!”

“I know,” Pidge finds herself laughing along with him. It then turns into a laughing-fest that gets the attention of the bystanders, who seem to be continuously confused by their guests.

When they finally calm down with sore stomachs, they relax back into the nest.

“Pidge,” Lance says, void any hint of light-heartedness. Pidge turns to face him with a frown. “Why are you so worried about being an Alpha?”

Pidge freezes for a moment, her breath caught in her throat before she glances away from Lance’s questioning gaze.

“I—um.” God, she doesn’t know what to say. How can she possibly explain her feelings to him? It’s not something simple. It never has been. Even though it is something that has been bothering her for a long time, she still can’t find the words.

“Breathe, Pidge,” Lance says, calmly.

She takes a breath slowly, in and out. Then, once she finds the suffocating weight off her chest, she meets Lance’s eyes. “It… it just doesn’t feel right.”

Lance says nothing, but he nods in understanding.

“It’s, I know that there’s nothing wrong with being an Alpha, but… there’s just a lot of things that I don’t feel work with me.” Pidge continues. “Like I really don’t like the idea of having ruts. I get really uncomfortable when I think about experiencing that. The whole ‘Alpha’s are superior’ is not something I feel comfortable being associated with either. Just—there are a lot of things that don’t fit me. I feel more like myself when I pictured myself as a Beta than I did as an Alpha if-if that makes sense.”

“Pidge,” Lance says, “it completely makes sense. The characteristics of dynamics can make a lot of people feel like that. So I get where you’re coming from, but I want you to know that even if you had turned out to be an Alpha, you’d still be the hacker-gremlin we all know and love.”

Pidge smiles, “Thanks, Lance.”

It’s sometime in the afternoon when Litos and Haly come to visit them. At first, Lance tenses up as the near until he recognizes that they aren’t a threat and then he calms down a little. Still, he buries himself under the sheets to hide from them. Pidge tugs him closer to her.

“How are you both doing?” Litos asks, “have you any issues?”

“We’re doing alright,” Pidge answers. “and we haven’t had any major issues so far. Honestly, I don’t think we can thank you enough for helping us.”

“Consider it an apology for Mangs’s actions,” Litos smiles. “Besides, it’s an honor to aid the defenders of the universe.”

Haly tries to get a little closer to the nest before, but Pidge surprises her with a growl. Almost immediately after Pidge has realized what she’s done, she scrambles back with wide eyes.

“Sorry! I-I didn’t mean to do that,” she flushes in embarrassment. 

“Relax, Pidge,” Lance says, peeking out from under the fabrics. “It was just a protective reflex. You’re not going to have any control over them for a while.”

“Your friend is right,” Haly says. “It’s not your fault, and I should have been more considerate. It slipped my mind that nests are very private things of your kind. But, I don’t think I understand what your friend means about not having any control. Is it normal for your instincts to take control of you?”

“Not normally,” Pidge answers. “It depends I guess. Since I’m just presented, everything is new, and I’m not used to it. But since Lance is in heat, it’s kind of affecting my instincts.”

“’Kind of’? Pfft-more like completely. Packmates always get instinct crazy when a member is in some state of vulnerability,” Lance comments.

Pidge frowns at him, “really? I’ve never seen the others growl or anything when you were in heat before.

“Uh, actually—“

“Keith doesn’t count.”

“Okay then. Maybe not as much, but that’s because we were surrounded by packmates. Not strangers or possible threats. And Hunk has actually growled out Shiro once—the first time I went into heat at the castle.”

“So, this is normal then? I’m going to get like this every time someone’s in heat or a rut?”

“Only if packmates are at risk, but yeah pretty much. I mean it won’t be as bad as the first time, cause you’ll get used to it. And I’m pretty sure that since this is all really sudden, it’s a little worse than it should be,” Lance rattles on.

Pidge can only hope that she’ll get used to this like Lance says.

“What do you that this is sudden?” Litos asks, tilting her head curiously. Lance turns to shyly meet Litos’s gaze before giving a Pidge a look.

Pidge sighs. “He means that this is early. I wasn’t supposed to present for another week or so. Just like he wasn’t supposed to go into heat so soon. Because this is early and rushed it’s probably worse than it should be.”

“Really?” Litos asks, and Pidge nods. Litos tilts their head and shares an odd look with Haly for a moment. Pidge frowns and Litos meets her gaze again. “You both didn’t happen to drink from a pink river down south, did you?”

“Uh,” Pidge says dumbly, and Lance sticks his head out from the sheets again to look at Litos in shock. “Yes?”

“That would be the _Velio_ River. There are these plants that grow on the bed of the river, which secrete a chemical that essentially speeds up certain biological processes. The chemicals make the river turn pink, sometimes even red. We only drink from that river for medical purposes. It’s not harmful for the most part.” Litos explains cautiously.

Pidge and Lance stared at her numbly. Litos and Haly anxiously observe the two paladins, waiting for any reaction. Pidge just slumps into the nest and begins staring at the ceiling. Lance, on the other hand, jolts out of his stupor.

“It was the fucking river!?”

*****

            “Ow-ow-ow!” Pidge hisses and tries to pull away. However, Haly’s grip is too secure to break from.

“Sorry, Pidge, but if you keep moving it’s going to hurt more,” Haly says as she dabs some ointment on the burn on Pidge’s leg. The cream feels cold and sends weird tingly sensations up her leg, but she can’t really feel anything at the center of the burn where most of the damage was done. While the injury itself has healed considerably, the nerves may never return in that spot of her leg. Undoubtedly, it will leave a nasty scar, a reminder of this adventure, but it’s just another one of many.

Once Haly has adequately covered the wound, she wraps it back up. “There. It should be good until tomorrow.”

Pidge sighs in relief. “Thanks, Haly, you’re the best.”

Haly smiles—and be still Pidge’s beating heart. Pidge crawls back into the nest where Lance has curled himself into a ball buried underneath the fabrics. If it weren’t for the rise and fall of the sheets over him, Pidge would be worried he had suffocated himself.

Suddenly, there’s a lot of noise coming from outside of the tent. People seem to be getting excited out there about something, and even some of the occupants of the shelter have left to investigate. Litos left them a while ago to deal with business, after all, they are in charge of around here, and Pidge wonders if Litos is has something to do with the commotion outside. Perhaps Mangs has done something again?

“What do you think is going on out there?” Pidge asks Haly.

“Beats me. It’s probably nothing major. Maybe our Grevos have some important news? Or maybe some hunters caught a _Wither_. Last time we had a _Wither_ we had a large feast. Those things pack a lot of meat, delicious meat at that,” Haly says, dreamily. “If there’s a feast, you guys should come.”

“That doesn’t look too bad, but I’m not sure how that would work since, you know,” Pidge gestures to Lance.

Heats can be exhausting, but she didn’t know how tiring until now. Lance is almost always asleep, and when he’s not, it’s because he’s either in pain, highly anxious, or hungry. The fact that he is able to sleep at all is a good sign. But every now and then Pidge has to grab some ice because he overheats. He’s been overheating more and more as the day moves on. The beginning phase of his heat is starting to end, and the real troubles are beginning.

Overheating will become a constant worry, his cramps will increase, and his anxiety will rise and result in the lack of sleep, which is why he’s always sleeping right now. But what Lance expressed true disdain for was the inevitable, overwhelming desires to attract a mate. Because that is what heats are for; attracting mates and breeding.

Lance, in his right mind, knows that Keith is his mate, but they have not spent a heat together or have done anything to tell the Omega in Lance that he was mated. As a result, he smells like any unmated Omega, and his instincts will be trying to get him to change that. Of course, he won’t be attempting to find just anyone. Omegas will fight their suitors with relentless viciousness, and only the one who successfully overpowers them and fights off the other suitors gets to mate with them. This is so an Omega has a mate who is strong and can protect them and their young.

Now, Lance has no intention of actually participating in any of this courting tactics, especially seeing as he only has eyes for Keith, but that doesn't mean he’ll have control over his mind and scent.

Pidge can already smell the mouth-watering scent of an unavailable Omega coming from Lance. It’s easy to notice because it’s a little different from the _Kilas._ Litos and Haly even noticed it, and when they commented on it, Lance had turned bright red and hide under the sheets. If Keith were here, he could scent Lance which would not only keep others from trying to ‘court’ Lance but also trick Lance’s instincts into thinking he was mated.

Pidge was able to calm Lance down by scenting him, but in the way, packmates would. Apparently, you can trick instincts by scenting, whether or not you are a mate. It definitely worked on Lance, but it can only do so much.

“Right,” Haly hums. “Forgot that heats are different for you guys. But I’m sure we could figure out something out.”

Pidge smiles, “That’d be great.”

It just barely reaches her ears, but the sound of small whimpers does not go unnoticed. Lance shuffles under the sheet, and Pidge can guess that cramps are to blame. Slowly, she tugs a blanket off of Lance and frowns as he shivers.

“Lance?” Pidge says, and all she gets in return is another whimper. She inches closer to him and gently presses the back of her hand against his forehead. She can’t stop the little jolt in her hand when she is met with burning skin. “Shit.”

“Pidge?” Haly asks. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s overheating again. Can you hand me some more ice?” Pidge replies, running her hands through Lance’s hair. He whines and tries to tug a blanket back over him. “No, Lance. You’re too hot right now.”

Lance snorts, “’m hot all the time, Pidgey.”

Pidge rolls her eyes and takes the clothed ice from Haly. “Not that kind of hot, Lance. You’re overheating again.”

“Are you sure?” Lance slurs out as Pidge presses the clothed ice to his exposed back. “I feel more cold than hot.”

Pidge freezes. “What? You’re cold?”

“Very. The ice is not helping.”

“Shit!”

“Language.”

“Shiro’s not here, and I’m allowed to curse since I think you might have a fever,” Pidge replies hastily. “Is that normal? To get fevers?”

“During heats? I don’t think so.” Lance answers, groaning. “I got a fever during my first heat, but I haven’t had any since then.”

“Okay. So, we just need to-um,” Pidge says and tries to ignore the tremble in in her hands.

“We do have some medicine to treat fevers,” Haly speaks up. “I can go retrieve some.”

“Yeah, okay, that sounds great,” Pidge replies. As she watches Haly leave, Pidge tugs Lance closer to her. Just when things were starting to seem okay, the universe decided to pull the rug right out from under their feet.

“Relax, Pidge. It’s not a big deal.” Lance sleepily mumbles.

“Lance, you have a fever. If it gets worse, you could die.”

“That’s a severe overstatement, Pidge. A little heat sickness isn’t enough to kill this sharpshooter,” he grins confidently.

Pidge groans, “You better be right.”

“So,” Lance begins, “You and Haly, huh?”

“ _Lance_ , not when you’re sick.”

“Oh come on! I’m not gonna get the chance to ask later. You’ve been giving her starry eyes, and she’s totally into you,” Lance nudges her.

“How can you possibly know she’s into me?” Pidge asks, skeptically.

“Because she’s also looking at you with starry eyes,” He answers smugly. “Trust me, I’ve been paying attention.”

Pidge can’t even comment on how he couldn’t possibly be paying attention when he’s spent the majority of the day hiding under a blanket because she’s still too shocked at the possibility that Haly has ‘starry eyes’ for her. The idea makes her flush. Look at her, getting all flustered over someone she barely even knows. Well, she could get to know Haly. So far they’ve gotten along pretty well with an almost non-stop conversation.

“Oooh, Pidgey’s got it bad~” Lance teases.

“Shut up, Lance. Go back to being a meerkat.”

“Ha, ha, what?”

“A meerkat, you know, because you keep burrowing into the nest.”

“Pfft- whatever you say, Pidge.” Lance rolls his eyes. “But hand me some of that cream. Cramps are starting to bother me again.”

“Sorry,” she grabs the cream and hands it to him.

“Don’t apologize, you’re doing fine.”

Pidge frowns but does not say anything. It sure doesn’t feel like she’s doing a good job. Of course, when she looks at the facts, she understands that it can’t be helped. Lance isn’t in a comfortable space, and the situation they're in is just not making things better. She can try to do all she can, but there are some things that she can’t help. He won’t start being alright until they’re back home surrounded by their pack.

Pidge keeps an eye out for Haly’s return as she attempts to get Lance to cool down. When Haly returns, Litos is with her, and they appear to be rushing. Excitement is painted on their faces, but it makes Pidge wonder just what’s going on.

“Pidge, you will not believe what’s happened!” Haly exclaims, practically bouncing.

“What? What’s happened?” Pidge asks hastily. Lance’s attention has even been grabbed, and he glances at the two as they approach his nest. They stop a considerate distance away from the nest, and Lance doesn’t shy away.

Litos is the one to answer her. “Our _Grevos_ brought us some news about the Netha; it appears that they’ve been driven off our planet as well as the Galra that had arrived.”

Pidge and Lance share a look before erupting in shock. Could that mean...?

“Really?! Do they know what drove them off?” Pidge asks. Is it their team!? Please, say it’s their pack.

“Well, according to our scouts, there were large robotic lions, most likely belonging to certain well-known paladins of Voltron. I’m sure that’s familiar to you.” Litos says with a grin.

Lance is practically beaming when he nudges Pidge’s shoulder. “You hear that Pidge; the others are finally here!”

“I know!” She replies ecstatically.

Litos laughs at their responses. “That’s not all; it seems there was a tower that was interfering with your connection to your team, and once it was down they were able to locate the whereabouts of your helmets.”

“Oh, hell yes, this just keeps getting better and better!” Lance cheers.

“So, does that mean they’re on their way?” Pidge asks. God, she can’t wait for them to get there.

“Even better. They’re here already,” Haly says excitedly, cutting Litos off before they can reply.

Pidge feels the urge to break into a dance, but she settles a fist pump into the air. Lance, on the other hand, attempts to actually dance. It doesn’t work well, and he topples over into the nest, laughing as he goes down and nearly crushes Pidge.

******

The others were just as happy to see Pidge and Lance, embracing them into one massive group hug. However, they were surprised to be greeted with an Omega in heat and a newly presented Beta, but that only made the reunion hug that much more intense. Keith, notably, did not let go of either of them for a while. Luckily, Pidge was able to use her smallness to scramble out of his death grip but sadly left Lance behind to handle is Alpha.

It didn’t surprise Pidge when Keith immediately started scenting Lance, and it almost seemed like Keith was unaware of what he was doing at first.

The others had managed to retrieve their lions from the hands of the Netha, all while sending them and the Galra running. Pidge wishes she could have seen it, but frankly, she can’t bring herself to mind to much.

Litos and Allura end up having one of those diplomatic, leader exchanges which resulted in both parties thanking one another. Pidge doesn’t entirely remember what went down between Allura and Litos, mostly because she was busy saying her goodbyes to Haly. And by ‘goodbyes’ she means that she gave Haly a tablet to communicate with her. As she did this, she made sure to shoot a glare at Lance and Hunk who were just giving her smug, teasing looks. So, now she knows what her own medicine tastes likes.

With the Netha out, the Quill’s are able to return to their lives as they were before. Hopefully, the team will be able to come visit sometime in the future.

Of course, while Pidge may miss them, she doesn’t think Lance will.

As soon as they’re in the castle and moving away from Teva, Pidge and Lance are practically shoved into the lounge. Hunk, Shiro, and Allura disappear for a few minutes while Keith stays close and Coran checks in with them.

“Looks like you’ll get a nasty scar there!” Coran says as he checks Pidge’s wound. “But it looks like it’s healed well, so you don’t need to worry about being put into a healing pod.”

Pidge can’t help but sigh in relief. She’s been in the pod a few times already, and they weren’t fun experiences either. Coran chuckles at her sigh.

“I’ll be right back with some refreshments,” he says, “I’m sure you’re both dying to try some of the Coranic’s finest concoctions, and believe me, they were the finest in Altea!” He practically skips out the room.

Lance groans, “oh no.”

Pidge sighs, “yep.”

Keith snorts, “sucks to be you guys.”

The others return with arms full of blankets, pillows, and clothes. Lance is practically beaming when he sees them. To him, it’s almost Christmas. He sets to work immediately, building one of the most massive nests Pidge has seen yet. A nest for an entire pack. The rest of them stand outside it, handing him more fabrics to use and wait patiently for him to give them the go ahead.

Pidge doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to get over how entertaining it is to watch Lance build a nest. Vaguely, she wonders what determines a nest to be good. It probably depends on the Omega, but she still can’t help but wonder how Lance decides what goes where.

It’s not long before the nest is complete, and everyone settles in. Another cuddle pile, although much comfier than the ones in the past.

Shiro sticks close to Pidge, relaxing to her left. Hunk settles in just in front of her, and Allura sits down next to him. Coran even joins, after providing surprisingly tasty beverages, and relaxes next to Allura.

Keith, the poor, poor boy, seems to have missed them a lot more than he’s willing to admit. He’s wedged himself between Pidge and Lance, with Lance practically in his lap. Lance has his head tucked under Keith’s chin, and he looks more at peace than he has the past few days. Pidge can find herself relating.

They’re both finally home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little rushed, but whatevs. also some art.  
> 


	10. Mates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little thing featuring Lance and Keith.

It’s been about a couple of days now since they got Pidge and Lance back. Allura elected that they should take a break for the next few days to recover from the past stressful days. Everyone agreed instantly, and Allura piloted the castle to a relatively safe area of the galaxy. They shouldn’t have to worry about again Galra for the time being.

The nest Lance had made in the lounge is still intact, but now is void of everyone except for Keith and Lance who remain tangled together. Keith hasn’t had the heart to leave Lance alone. Heck, he was even obsessing over Pidge too, but she was able to evade him. It’s understandable since there’s only so much coddling she can withstand. Lance, on the other hand, just accepted Keith’s overwhelming attention and affection. He even made some chirps and purrs, but only when they were alone.

Keith smiled as Lance let out a pleased sigh, tucking his head underneath Keith’s chin. Lance was finally able to relax, now in the presence of his pack-mates.

The first day back was a little rough as Lance kept having hot-flashes, but they were able to keep him from falling into delirium. It’s hard to explain how much pride Keith felt when he heard that Pidge alone was able to prevent Lance from becoming overly distressed and delirious. They were all proud of their youngest pack-mate.

The entire team smothered Lance and Pidge with as much affection they could manage on the first day back, making sure that Pidge and Lance knew they were significantly missed. Everyone made sure to spend as much time as they could in Lance’s nest, forming one large and long cuddle pile. They all slept in the nest and would return to it to relax during the day. Keith wonders how long this will last. Would they stop once Lance’s heat ended and Pidge has gotten used to being her dynamic?

If he was honest, Keith did not want this to end. He couldn’t help but love this closeness their pack has developed. Sure, he thought cuddle piles were weird once, but now that he’s experienced them he doesn’t want it to end.

But it’s going to. Keith knows it’ll end eventually.

So, he holds Lance tighter in his arms and tries not to think about it.

Suddenly, Lance tenses in his holding and chokes back a small whimper. Keith is immediately hovering over him, frowning as he notices Lanced wince.

“Lance, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Keith asks and tries to ignore the slight tremble in his own voice.

Lance exhales slowly and looks up at Keith. “I’m fine. It’s just some cramps.”

“Oh,” Keith relaxes just a bit. He was worried he had accidentally hurt Lance. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Hmm, a massage sounds nice.” Lance grins and winks. Ignoring the way his heart flutters, Keith snorts and presses a chaste kiss to Lance’s lips.

“If it helps,” Keith replies. It’s not like he hasn’t been dying to get his hands on Lance already, even though his hands have been on Lance since he got back. “Take off your shirt.”

“Trying to get me naked? Took you long enough,” Lance jokes but complies and removes his pajama shirt. Keith marvels at the Lance’s soft, flushed skin and idly wonders how it never seems to lose its glow. Lance would merely say it’s because of his skin-care routine, but Keith believes there’s something else going on.

Smirking, Lance pokes at Keith’s chest. “Take a picture it’ll last longer,” he teases.

Keith tears his eyes off of Lance’s torso and meets Lance’s gaze with a small smile. “I should do that, but I don’t think the camera would be able to capture your beauty.”

Lance’s eyes widen comically, and his mouth hangs open as his face turns bright red, rivaling the red lion. He stutters as he tries to form a reply, but is at a loss for words. Keith triumphantly smiles as he watches Lance attempt to hide his face in his hands.

“Ha, ha. You can dish it out but can’t take it, huh?” Keith teases, and gently grabs hold of Lance’s wrists, pulling his hands off of his face. When he is met with the flushed, embarrassed face of his mate, his heart melts.

“Shut up,” Lance says, “you can’t handle either, you adorable kitten.”

Keith snorts, “Really? You’re gonna call me a kitten?”

“Yep, it’s your own fault now. Deal with it.”

“Fine, but I get to call you ‘my love',” Keith replies. “Or maybe ‘my world,' ‘my everything’.”

“Goddammit, stop trying to out romance me!” Lance exclaims, playfully shoving Keith back.

“It’s not a competition, Lance.”

“You’re making it one! Stop being so perfect!” He hides his face in his hands once again. Keith rolls his eyes but feels his face heat up at the compliment. Lance thought he was perfect? Honestly, he was far from it, but it makes his heart soar when Lance says it so insistently.

Leaning down on Lance’s chest, Keith rests his head just under Lance’s collarbone. The thumping of Lance’s heartbeat is hard and fast, and he presses a light kiss at the center of his chest.

“Don’t hide from me,” He says quietly, only a receiving a huff from Lance. “Do you want that massage or not?”

There’s a pause before Lance groans and takes his hands away from his face. Lance’s arms fall on either side of his head, and he looks down at Keith with a pout. “You don’t play fair.”

“Neither do you.”

The corner of Lance’s mouth twitches. “Just get to the massage already.”

“Yes, sir,” Keith gives him a mock salute and leans back off of him. He backs up just a bit and is just about to place his hands on Lance’s stomach when he freezes. “Um, I’ve never given a massage before, so you’re gonna have to help me out here.”

Lance snorts, “That’s fine. I figured as much. I'll let you know when something isn’t okay.”

Keith nods and exhales, “Kay.”

Gently, he places both hands on Lance’s stomach. He presses down gently and moves them in circular motions. It brings a smile to Keith’s face when Lance sighs and relaxes under his fingertips. He keeps his movements steady and switches up his actions. He digs his fingers into the flesh just above Lance’s hipbone, running his hands up Lance’s sides.

“I thought you said you’ve never done this before,” Lance mumbles. His eyes are closed, head turned to the side, and his breathing is steady.

“I haven’t,” Keith replies. “I just like having my hands on you.”

Licking his lips, Lance’s eyes open to meet Keith’s soft gaze. His face is flushed, and Keith does not doubt that he is also blushing - probably even more so. Gulping, Keith continues his ministrations. A tentative hand touches Keith’s arm which guides his hands across Lance’s abdomen. He increases the pressure just a bit more as his hands go over where the pain would most likely be.

“How’s that?” Keith asks, looking up at Lance.

With his eyes closed once more, Lance gives him a small smile. “Feels great, mullet,” he murmurs.

“Good.” Keith nods.

Keith continues for a little while longer until Lance grasps his arms and tugs him down to lie on top of him. Lance’s arms wrap around Keith’s shoulders, keeping him pressed against Lance’s front.

“Lance?” Keith asks.

“Shhh, sleep now,” Lance whispers.

Keith blinks but says nothing. Tucking his head under Lance’s chin, Keith relaxes against his mate. The gentle rhythm of Lance’s heartbeat lulls him, and he finds sleep sneaking up on himself as well. Keith lets sleep take him as Lance’s arm hold him firmly. This may not continue forever, so he’ll enjoy it while it lasts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://the-miss-mousie.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> Update: anyone got any prompts/ideas/things they'd like to see? Let me know since I've hit a metaphorical wall.


	11. Where's the Alpha?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where's Keith?

Shiro sits quietly in the lounge room, flipping through the digital pages of a translated book. According to Coran, it was an Altean classic and about halfway through Shiro realized it was pretty much like Shakespeare’s _Hamlet_. It’s pretty appealing to read and note the similarities and differences between the texts.

There isn’t much to do at the moment, and since he had been banned from training for the day by the other paladins, he decided that he might as well relax and do some reading. You know, after he brushed off his annoyance to find the training room locked (Pidge’s handiwork). But to be fair, he had been training excessively the past few days.

So, he had collected a few other Altean stories, all recommended by Coran, and made himself comfortable in the lounge room.

The lounge room had started to be used a lot more often now, most likely because of the Pack nest that sat in the centre of the room. Pidge and Lance had also demanded that they have a movie night every week too. No one could really fight against them about it, even if they wanted to. It was good bonding and took the edges off their nerves.

The others weren’t present and were off doing their own things. Coran, Pidge, and Hunk were repairing their little robot companion, and Lance was hanging with Allura (doing something about skin care, if he recalls correctly). Keith said something about taking a nap, so it surprised Shiro when he found that Keith wasn’t in the lounge room. Of course, Keith probably just wanted some space, so Shiro had shrugged it off.

 _Keith is fine_ , he thinks. At least until Lance enters the room.

“Hey, Shiro?” Lance calls. “Have you seen Keith?”

Shiro looks up from the screen to see – and smell – a somewhat worried Omega. He frowns, turning all of his attention to his teammate. “No, I haven’t. Why? Is something wrong?”

“No… I just can’t find him anywhere,” Lance answers and nervously stuffs his hands into his pockets.

“He said was going to get some rest. Have you checked his room?”

“Yes. I even checked my room, the training room, Red, the kitchen, the brooding room, the bridge, the bathrooms, the medical wing, and—”

“Okay, okay” Shiro interrupts, “I get the picture. But, ‘the brooding room’?”

“You know, the observation room. Where you and Keith go to brood all the time,” Lance rolls his eyes as if it were obvious. “But that’s beside the point. The point is I can’t find Keith anywhere!”

“Hey, relax.” Shiro stands up and closes the gap between him and the stressed Omega.  Resting his hand on Lance’s shoulder, he says, “Don’t worry. Here’s what we’ll do: you can alert the others about Keith, and I’m sure they’ll stop what they’re doing to help. While you do that, I’ll try using the comms – chances are he has his helmet with him.”

Lance nods, “Okay.” He relaxes some, but there’s still a tense worry that radiates off his form.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. It’s likely that Keith’s still somewhere on the ship. He probably just wanted some space, or maybe wanted to check out the other areas of the ship.” Shiro reassures him, but from the crease in Lance’s brow, he can tell that there’s something more going on here.

“Okay,” Lance simply says again and pulls away. “I’ll go let the others know.”

Shiro nods, “Alright. I let you know if I find him.”

The blue paladin turns and heads back the way he came. Shiro sighs, running a hand through his hair. He knows that Keith wouldn’t go out of his way to avoid Lance or hide away from others like this. So, something was clearly wrong. Lance must have the same idea as well unless he knows something that Shiro doesn’t. Still, that doesn’t change the matter at hand.

Leaving the lounge, he heads in the direction of his room to grab his own helmet. Keith has always been one to make sure he has it just in case of an emergency, so hopefully, he will get an answer.

As he turns down the hall to his room, he barely notices it. The scent is faint, most likely from the morning, but as a top Alpha, he catches it.

 _Keith_.

He passes the door to his room without a second thought, following the faded scent. He follows the smell to the end of the hall, where has the option to right or left. The scent goes left, and so does he. Down to the hangers.

Shiro frowns as he comes to the conclusion that that is where Keith had gone, yet Lance had already been down there and said he hadn’t found Keith. Something definitely wasn’t right. He picks up the pace until he’s jogging.

He’s expecting to turn down the hall to Red’s hanger, but the scent doesn’t lead that way. It’s then that it clicks. _Blue_. That’s where he has to be. But why? Shiro doesn’t give himself the time to think about it in favour of rushing down to Blue’s hangar. He knows he’s on the right path when the other Alpha’s scent gets stronger.

He comes to an abrupt halt in front of the giant, mechanical lion. Blue’s head is lowered, indicating that someone – Keith – has entered. He approaches the Blue’s mouth slowly, tentatively. Blue had let Keith enter for a reason, and Keith had gone to Blue for a reason. He wasn’t sure why, but that didn’t mean Shiro could just walk right in like he owned the place – he may be this Pack’s Alpha, but he isn’t a dictator, he doesn’t own them.

As he came closer, his nose scrunched up and his instincts flared – one told him to back away while the other told him to fight. While he couldn’t completely smell it through the metal encasement, he is sure that the inside of Blue reeked of an Alpha in a rut.

The smell, not sweet or coaxing like an Omega’s, is bolder and heavy, and like a big slap in the face. Meant to attract and get an intense response from potential mates. In a way, Alpha’s are kind of like those birds that show off their colourful feathers - the stronger the scent, the better - but then it can shift from that to a more dominant nature depending on the Alpha. Omegas, on the other hand, can be compared to sirens as their scent lures others in with a more soothing manner, and makes them lose all sense, especially if they have no experience or control.

So, everything then makes some sense, except for one thing. Why did Keith go to Blue? He could have just locked himself away in a room, but then he’d risk being disturbed.

Ruts, in Shiro’s experience, can vary much like an Omega’s heat. Although, most Omegas require a Pack to offer protection and aid. That’s not necessarily the case with some Alphas. Sometimes, being around others, Pack or not, can be the last thing they need. Shiro tended to be one who favoured being around Packmates, but there were times where he experienced some major sensory overload, and he needed to be alone.

There’s also the chance that a nearby Omega could get thrown into a sudden heat in the presence of an Alpha in a rut, which tends to more of an inconvenience and awkward for anyone involved (especially if they’re strangers). And let’s not forget the risk of causing harm. Some Alphas, few as they are, can end up slightly violent and lack all control when in a rut. Shiro, luckily, has never had to deal with such extreme urges.

Unfortunately, Shiro has no idea what kind of ruts Keith might have, but he can guess that being around others is probably the last thing Keith wants. Being alone for a long time can do that. It’s also probably a good thing that Lance didn’t find Keith too, lest he wants to accidentally end up in another heat so soon.

Although, somehow Shiro doubts that Lance would be thrown into heat by being near an Alpha in a rut. Lance did say he had a few Alpha’s in his family, so he would have experience and wouldn’t slip into a heat. But then again, Keith is Lance’s _mate_ who might affect him in some way.

Even so, that really doesn’t matter at the moment. Right now, Shiro needs to check up on the other Alpha. So, he comes to the door on Blue’s mouth and gently places his hand on it.

“Hey, Blue,” Shiro politely greets the Blue Lion. Silently hoping that she’ll listen. “Can you let me in? I just want to check up on Keith.”

Blue seems to purr, amused, but her eyes flash with a warning, and then the door opens slowly. A gust of cold air rushes through the entrance, heavy with Keith’s scent. Quietly, he thanks her and enters.

The smell becomes incredibly intense. However, something is off about it. It’s harsher than what Shiro would have expected, and it’s less musky than what’s normal. He frowns in worry and makes his way up to the cockpit.

“Keith?” he softly calls out as the doors slid open.

The light blue glow of the cockpit sends a soothing sensation down his back. It reminds him of relaxing on a beach, watching small gentle waves roll onto the shore. Slightly, he can’t help but feel a little envious that Blue is Lance’s lion (Black is more vacant, powerful, and vast. Sometimes there’s nothing, and sometimes there’s too much).

There are is a pair of feet hanging over the armchair of the pilot seat. They move and tuck themselves in and out of sight. Keith makes no other movement or sound.

Shiro can’t help but sympathize with the red paladin when he catches a small whimper.

“Keith,” Shiro says as he approaches him. “Hey, it’s okay.”

Quietly, Keith grumbles and shrinks in the seat. He doesn’t do anything else, so Shiro moves a little closer.

“I’m going to put my hand on your shoulder, is that okay?” Shiro asks. He doesn’t get an answer. Sighing, he kneels down in front of the seat, keeping enough space between him and Keith as to not make him uncomfortable. “How are you’re feeling, bud?”

Keith says something, but it comes out mumbled.

“What was that?”

“…feel like shit,” Keith grunts and Shiro chuckles. Ruts are far from fun.

“Yeah, I can kinda see that,” Shiro replies. “But, really, how bad is it?”

“As bad as it usually is.”

“Which is?”

“Hurts like a bitch,” He bites out, curling in on himself with a groan. His arms are wrapped around his stomach.

“Hey, hey,” Shiro says, and he has to stop himself from wrapping his arms around the other. “Breathe, Keith.”

“I’m breathing,” he pants, sounding like he just ran a marathon. In a few seconds, he relaxes again with a deep sigh. Shiro frowns, thinking it over.

“Keith, I need you to be honest with me. What does the pain feel like?”

Keith sighs, exasperatedly. “I don’t know… it’s just weird.”

“Does it feel like a burning sensation almost?” Shiro asks again.

For a second, Keith frowns before nodding. “Yeah, kinda.”

He was really hoping that wasn’t Keith’s answer, but he supposes it’s better than some other alternatives. So, he nods. “Okay, so you’re going through a dry rut. You said this was normal for you?”

“Most of the time, yeah.” That wasn’t good. Dry ruts were terrible, and Shiro would know as he’s had a few. It tends to occur from stress, anxiety, isolation, and sometimes depression. The best way to treat them was to eliminate the causes, which isn’t easy depending on what was responsible.

“Keith, I need to ask something, you can say no if you don’t want to. But, is it alright we go down to the lounge room? It’d help if you were in the nest there,” Shiro says. Keith flinches, and looks away, shrinking even further into himself. “If you don’t want to, that’s alright, but you should still find a place closer to the Pack. We can help.”

“Um…” Keith swallows. “I-I’m not sure.”

“That’s okay, but what are you not sure about?”

“I don’t… I don’t want to hurt anyone.” He replies, his gaze locked downward.

“I promise you that you won’t hurt anyone, Keith,” Shiro says. He knows in his heart that Keith is in no way an Alpha that would become incredibly violent, at least during a rut. “Trust me, I know you.”

“But… what about…” He doesn’t need to say the name for Shiro to guess where his primary concern lied.

“You won’t hurt Lance. He’s your mate, so even in a rut, you won’t harm him. And he can very well keep control of himself, so you don’t need to worry about avoiding him.” Shiro says confidently.

“How can you so sure!? Isn’t that what happens? We lose our minds, and go berserk, forcing others into submission because we need to fuck something! Omegas are our prime target, too!”

With a growl, Shiro stands up. Keith immediately shrinks under Shiro gaze. “I’m not sure who shoved that idea into your head, but I can tell you right now that that isn’t what happens. And I’m sure that Lance wouldn’t be too happy to know that you think you can easily force him into submission.”

Keith’s head snaps up to meet Shiro look with wide eyes. “N-no, that’s not what I meant—”

“Do you think Lance is some helpless, little omega who needs to be mated when he’s in heat?”

“No!” Keith snarls out, almost jumping out of his seat with his chest puffed up. Shiro raises a brow at that. Although, he can’t help but feel like he should have expected that since he is talking harshly about another Alpha’s mate.

“Then why do you think that you’re some uncontrollable beast when you’re in a rut?” He counters and Keith frowns, quickly looking away. He doesn’t have an owner, and if he does, he doesn’t intend on voicing it which fills Shiro with concern.

Suddenly, Keith hisses and curls into himself again. Shiro winces sympathetically and places a tentative hand on Keith’s shoulder. When the pain seems to fade, Keith relaxes and leans into Shiro’s touch. “Hey, are you okay?”

“It still hurts.”

“It’ll be better if with others. Something tells me one of the reasons you have dry ruts is that you haven’t gotten enough contact. The others will help you, and you won’t hurt anyone – no matter what you think, Keith. And you want to know how I’m so sure that you won’t hurt anyone?” Shiro says, calmly and firmly. He doesn’t wait for a reply when he says, “Because you haven’t hurt me. If you were really a violent Alpha, you would have attacked me the second I entered the cockpit.”

“Oh,” Keith replies numbly, crossing his arms. It’s clear that he still doesn’t believe Shiro, but frankly, Shiro can’t really blame him. People tend to think the stereotypes are accurate depictions, and some people still hold onto old views and try to shove them onto the newer generations.

Reluctantly, Shiro pulls away. They sit in silence for a moment before Shiro breaks it. “You know, Lance has been especially worried about you.”

Surprised, Keith looks up and blinks. “He has?”

Shiro nods, “Honestly, he kind of looked like a kicked puppy when he came into the lounge asking if I had seen you. Chances are everyone is looking for you right now, so why don’t we head down and let them know you okay – or somewhat okay.”

Keith gnaws on his lip. “…Okay.”

“Hey, it’s okay if you don’t want to. But I do suggest finding a better place to stay in other than Blue. Why did you come here anyway, if that’s alright to ask?”

“…Because no one would check here,” Keith shrugs. A faint blush spreads across his cheeks, as he looks to the side.

Shiro fights the teasing smile that threatens to surface. “Really, that’s it? No other reason?” He asks, feigning innocence. With a pout, Keith shoots him a glare. Shiro coughs into his hand to cover the small his chuckle.

“Let's go find the others,” He says with a grunt, pushing himself off the seat.

He follows Keith out of Blue and is surprised to see that the others were already outside waiting. It’s likely that one of them had tracked Shiro’s scent to Blue and alerted the others when they caught Keith’s scents

Keith stiffens when he sees them, stopping at the end of Blue’s ramp. He looks ready to bolt until Lance calls his name.

“Keith!” He smiles softly, relief clear in his eyes. He practically flings himself at the young Alpha who yelps and desperately tries to catch Lance all while trying not to fall. He stumbles back as Lance wraps him up in his arms. Keith flushes beat red, before melting entirely in Lance’s hold.

Shiro sighs in relief. Lance will easily be able to help Keith through his dry rut, and, if he allows it, everyone else too. When he sees Keith tentatively wrap his arms around Lance in return, he gets the feeling Keith doesn’t intentionally want to push anyone away.

As the other’s begin ushering the younger Alpha to the lounge, back to the Pack nest, Shiro can’t help but worry just a little bit. He can’t help it. It’s part of his job. But, he knows that there’s still a lot more that needs to be done. Keith’s negative views of Alpha’s is only just one of the many things that are affecting Keith negatively.

Shiro just hopes they’ll be able to help and that he’ll let them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, got some writing done! If there are any grammar mistakes, don't hesitate to point them out! Help is much appreciated.  
> Also if there are ideas or things you guys want to see feel free to share them. :)
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://the-miss-mousie.tumblr.com/)


	12. ~Can you feel the love tonight~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...shallura...

Shiro is standing comfortably in the observation room – or, ‘brooding room’ as Lance had dubbed it – looking through the window to the outside. A small, green planet with a single ring could be seen. The residents of the planet were called Hetilians and were presently discussing amongst themselves about joining the Voltron alliance. They said they would notify them in a Quintent. While most of them sounded eager to join, some council members were a bit skeptical, so Shiro imagines that they’ll mostly be trying to convince the skeptics. For now, it was just a waiting game.

The other paladins went ahead and began busying themselves. Hunk and Pidge went to complete their robot, SONA. From the sounds of it, SONA will be up and running later today if things go smoothly. Coran was running scans and checking over the castle, as he regularly does, to make sure that everything was in order just in case things took a surprise turn. He planned to join Hunk and Pidge once he was done, assuming he had time to.

Keith and Lance went to the lounge to most likely hang out in the permanent nest there. Keith is still going through the last waves of his rut, and Lance has made it the sole mission to keep him company. It took a team effort to get Keith comfortable enough for his rut to stop being a dry one. Shiro was tempted to stay with them, but he knew how mates tended to get, and he was sure they’d like some alone time.

Allura had said something quietly about getting ready for the Hetilians’ response and left to bridge towards her room. Admittedly, Shiro was a little disappointed he didn’t get the chance to hang with Allura. It seems like nowadays they only time they interact with one another is during missions and mission planning.

Finding himself at a loss for what to do, Shiro had headed down to the observation deck, a place that was nice and quiet where he could think and relax. Of course, relaxing is the last thing he is doing at the moment.

His mind has been running over all the possibilities that this alliance could result in, positive and negative. There is also an extreme worry on his mind which is that they were being led into a trap and would be served up to Zarkon to appease the Galra Empire. It was very well possible even if most of the population was against it. All it takes is one traitor for everything to come falling down on them.

So, Shiro thinks of a series of plans that may counter and prevent any disasters. Hopefully, this will remain a peaceful mission. Regardless, Shiro will have to stay on guard. For his Pack.

That’s another thing that has been on his mind for a while. One he’s been refusing to address. He’s the Alpha, the leader, and it’s his job to lead and keep them together. But ever since that scare with Pidge and Lance – not knowing whether they were dead or alive, and how they would carry on if it were the former – and now with Keith’s tendency to pull away from the Pack, Shiro’s been thinking a lot lately about his position as Alpha.

While he wouldn’t trade it for the world, he’s beginning to have some doubts about himself which is not something that a Prime Alpha should have.

The easy solution is to say he’ll try harder, no matter what it takes. But that still leads to the question: what if he can’t? What if he isn’t able to lead should something unfortunate occur? The first thought that had come to mind was that Keith would take his place.

Shiro’s not gonna lie, but he winced when he thought of putting Keith in that position. Keith is young, doesn’t have the experience, and is stilling learning. He’s not ready for any leadership roles. He’s not prepared to become the top Alpha. Not to mention that fact that it would probably scare him away. However, Shiro has no doubt that Keith could become a capable leader – he’s already expressed many of the traits. It’ll just take some work, some encouraging, and Keith would be fit to be a black paladin. But… not right now. There’s much that they have to work on first.

So, he figures Allura could easily fill in his spot. Except, she’s already seen as a second Alpha, and she’s already a leader in her own ways. But, she _is not_ an Alpha, she just appears like one. Appearing to be an Alpha isn’t going to be enough for the Pack. She doesn’t have any dynamic, and neither does Coran; for that, they’ll never be able to truly understand their paladins. They’ll never understand or share the same instincts that drive the paladins. For that reason, Allura wouldn’t be able to simply fill in Shiro’s shoes. She’s got a different leadership role, one that unfortunately isn’t human.

 In the end, it’s a rumbling, deep voice in that back of his mind that tells him it would have to be Keith. Allura will remain as the second Alpha (or whatever she appears to be to their instincts) and, hopefully, she will continue to grow into their Pack. And Coran too since Shiro can’t imagine a Pack without the advisor.

Regrettably, Shiro has yet to figure how to approach Keith about it without scaring him off.  Perhaps Allura could help him?

The door to the room hisses open. The carefully-paced footsteps and the soft, floral scent that one would associate with an Omega, but the powerful presence reveals to Shiro that it’s Allura who’s entered the room. He turns to face the princess and freezes when he sees her.

“Shiro,” She begins, stopping a few feet away from him. He’s thankful for the distance because he is sure she would notice his flushed cheeks if she got any closer. Why is Shiro flushing, you ask? Well, Shiro thought that Allura only had one dress, the one that she always wears, but it seems he was wrong.

The dress she’s wearing is flowy and voluminous. The top of the dress is a light shade of pink and fades into white as it goes down to the floor. A golden band with is wrapped around her waist. Her hair is braided back with pink flowers woven into the braids. Vaguely, Shiro wonder’s if she did that on her own or if she had help.

Shiro mentally hits himself for staring and coughs into his fist. “Princess,” he manages to say. “You look lovely.”

Allura smiles and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear (his heart does a flip). “Thank you. It’s for the ball that the Hetilians are throwing for us. They’ve managed to convince the skeptics and were able to give us an answer much sooner than anticipated. Another successful alliance for us.”

“Really? That’s great, Princess.” Shiro smiles proudly. “I bet it was your inspirational speech that won them over. You really do have a way with words.”

Allura blushes and fiddles with her fingers. “I wouldn’t exactly say that. You did a brilliant job in showing them that we’re more than just some ‘bumbling, unorganized group of rebels’.”

Shiro chuckles and crosses his arms. “Let’s just say it was a team effort then.”

“Agreed,” Allura nods. “Anyway, the ball is going to begin in the evening, so we have plenty of time to get ourselves ready. But you don’t have to worry about finding something to wear. Coran has got that covered.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? From what I heard he can get a bit… eccentric when it comes to fashion.”

Allura laughs, “Honestly that did have me worried too, but he’s just going pull out the formal uniforms that were made for Paladins. So, you should be safe.”

“Well, that’s good,” Shiro tries to cover up his relief. No offense to Coran, but he has the tendency to get a little wild. Sometimes, Shiro can’t help but feel a bit envious of Coran’s energy.

“Do the others know about the ball?” Shiro asks.

Allura nods, “Yes. They all had different reactions to the news, however. Lance and Hunk seemed pretty excited. Pidge and Keith on the other hand…”

“Not so much?” Shiro guessed. He bets that they want nothing more than to sleep the day away.

“You could say that. But, I’m pretty sure Keith will change his mind when he finds out he has to dance with Lance,” Allura smiles smugly.

“Heh, I don’t doubt that, but what do mean by ‘has to’? Are we all expected to dance?”

Almost immediately, Allura deflates, and Shiro feels a spark of worry light up in his chest. Should he not have asked?

“Um, we are. It’s part of their traditions for members of an alliance to partake in partner dances,” Allura explained. “We start off with one dance with each other which is followed by a second dance where we dance with members of the other party. Keith and Lance are paired up, as are Hunk and Pidge. You and I are also a pair. For the first dance anyway. The council is choosing their representatives, who will have their own pairs and they’ll let us know who we will be paired up for the second dance.”

“That sounds easy enough,” Shiro hums thoughtfully. “Is they any particular type of dance we should know how to do?”

“From what I know, the dances we’ll be performing are incredibly similar to the ‘Waltz’ that you have on your home planet,” Allura fidgets slightly.

Shiro can’t help but feel somewhat relieved when he hears ‘waltz.’ He was decently familiar with it, having taken some lessons to impress superiors. Although, from the slight flush on Allura’s cheeks he gets the feeling that, unlike him, she may not be relieved.

“Is something wrong?” He asks, cautiously.

Allura jumps to respond quickly, “Oh no! Everything’s fine – sort of. Um… okay, maybe not _quite_ alright…” She takes a breath, and her shoulders drop in defeat. “Unfortunately, I don’t know how to dance – at least, not well. And I especially don’t know how to dance the ‘waltz.’”

“I could teach you,” he replies without thinking.

Allura blushes and looks up in surprise. “Really? You could?”

Shiro nods and tries to ignore how hot his face feels, desperately trying to keep his composure under control. “Sure, it’s pretty simple. Here, let’s just…”

He take’s Allura’s hands. “Your right goes on my arm just below my shoulder, and your left-hand holds my right. My left-hand rests on your shoulder blade.” He explains as he places them.

“I see” Allura nods, listening intently.

“The dance itself is a pretty basic box step. Your right foot will step backwards, and my left foot will follow it. But you're going to want to step a little to the left, so we don’t step on each other’s feet,” he continues. Allura quickly shimmers a little to her left. “That’s perfect. Now, I’m going to move my left foot forward, and you’ll move your right foot backwards.”

“Okay.” Shiro moves, and she observes their feets’ movements carefully. “Now what?”

“Now we do the same with the other feet,” he answers, and they move again. “Once you do this, you’re going to bring your right foot into your left foot like this. Our movements will essentially be mirroring each other.” He says as he pulls his left foot to his right and Allura quickly mimics it.

“That’s good. Now you’re left foot is going to move forward, while my right foot moves back.” They complete the step. Allura’s focus still remains on their feet. “Then we’ll do the same with our other feet, and then you’ll bring your left foot to your right foot. And we’ll be back to we were.”

Allura frowns. “Is that really it?”

Shiro nods. “Yep. But it’s a little faster and smoother. And you typically look up at your partner.”

Allura blushes and laughs, “right.”

“Want to try it again?”

“Please.”

Internally, he regrets reminding Allura to face her partner because when her bright blue eyes meet his, his heart has become an angry neighbour and his chest a door that’s being harshly beat against. Luckily, the pounding in his ears doesn’t deter their movements, and they thankfully get away without stepping on any toes.

After a few moments, when they’re both sure that she’s gotten the steps down perfectly, they come to a stop. But they don’t pull apart.

“Um… we could try adding a twirl to it now if you’d like?” Shiro asks.

“‘Twirl’?” Allura asks.

“It’s where when you take a step, it shifts a little to the left, so you’re not just moving in a square,” he explains. “That’s technically the waltz.”

“Oh, of course.” Allura nods. Shiro explains a little more, and she observes the new movements. But it doesn’t take long for her to catch on.

Their movements become fluid as they dance around the observation room. Shiro’s makes sure to guide her carefully, but at one point she ends ups being the one leading. Her step becomes confident, and her smirk tells him that she knows what she’s doing.

Eventually, much to Shiro’s displeasure, they come to a slow stop back in the centre of the room. However, they don’t break apart. It seems as though they’ve become lost in each other. Neither of them speaks as the space between them grows smaller. Red colours her cheeks as Allura’s gaze flickers to Shiro’s lips. And there are two voices in Shiro’s head; one urges him to move forward, and the other fearfully urges him to step back. The fearful voice isn’t loud enough.

They’re just an inch away. Only one more push and –

“ _Can you feel the love tonight~!!”_ The familiar voice of Elton John begins blasting through the intercom. It startles them both, and they jump apart. “ _It is where we are~!”_

Shiro looks back at Allura, and they share a look before quickly looking away. His face feels incredibly hot. He can barely believe what just about happened. He and Allura almost… His hand covers his lips.

“Um…” He begins, unsure what to say. “That’s probably Pidge’s doing. She must have thought it would be funny.”

“R-right,” Allura agrees with a light laugh. Her fingers play with the fabric of her skirt. “Well, um, thank you for the dance lesson, Shiro.”

“Your welcome, Princess,” Shiro says, trying to brush off the racing of his heart.

“We should check to make sure the others are ready. It can’t be too long before we have to head back down,” Allura suggests, regaining her composure in mere seconds.

Shiro nods, “Yeah, let’s go do that.” He slaps himself internally for not having anything more to say.

The music still plays, loudly too, as he follows Allura out of the room. He has no idea if Pidge is responsible. For all he knows, it was probably Lance. It seems like something he and Pidge would do together actually. He supposes that it doesn’t matter now.

Looking forward, Allura walks proudly, with that confidence he had seen while they are dancing. It reminds him of the Black Lion. Perhaps… she could be the next Black Paladin.

With that thought in mind, Shiro can’t help but think that it’s probably for the best that they were interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> conclusion: shiro thinks too much and needs a vacation.  
> If you notice any grammatical errors, please let me know! And comment any ideas/prompts/things ya'll might want to see.
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://the-miss-mousie.tumblr.com/)


	13. The Secret Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge shows Keith something.

“Hey,” Pidge says, “hey, Keith, wake up.” She jabs his cheek.

Keith grumbles something and rolls over, turning away from Pidge. He arms cover his head to protect his face from scaring, invasive fingers that attempt to disturb his sleep.

With Allura, Lance, and Hunk on a mission, the others were left to their own devices. Since Keith denied the idea of sitting and waiting for Lance to come back so he could cuddle the Omega senseless, he decided to take advantage of this spare time. He spent about three hours in the training room before he called it quits, and then went to the lounge to take a nap.

The Pack nest still remained, surprisingly, and Pidge was nestled in the blankets when he had entered. She had been focused on something on her laptop, so Keith merely plopped down on the couch. He managed to get about fifteen minutes of sleep before Pidge started poking his face, trying to get his attention.

However, he was not having it, so he ignores the younger Paladin efforts.

Pidge huffs as his behaviour and pulls away to think of a plan of attack. She grins when her eyes fall on his form. It seems that to protect his face from being poked, he foolishly left his sides open for attack. And didn’t Shiro mention something about Keith being ticklish a while ago? She grins and pokes his side. He flinches and tries to pull away from her.

“Pidge,” he hisses, “don’t you dare.”

“Then get up,” Pidge says. Keith contemplates not listening to her, but he knows from past experience that this was already a losing battle.

Keith groans and pushes himself up to look at the younger Paladin. “What do you want?”

“I wanna show you something,” she says. Her eyes glance to the sides as if she was making sure they were alone.

Keith raises a brow and looks at her expectantly. “Okay, what is it?”

“Come on, follow me.” She grabs his hand and yanks him up from the couch. She begins to pull him away from the nest. “It’s a surprise.”

“What?” He asks, dumbly, and lets himself be drag through the halls of the castle. She pulls him past their rooms through corridors they rarely go down until they stop in front a large door. It opens to reveal a library. Large bookshelves a built into the walls of the room and are filled with old, worn books. Which isn’t much of a surprise considering this is a castle. The Library is cozy and has warmer tones than the rest of the castle. Not to mention it certainly temperately warmer than most rooms. Maybe that’s why their rooms aren’t very warm; all the heat is directed to this room.

Pidge continues to pull him along until they come to an open space on the wall that has a vent. Finally, she releases him and sits down in front of the vent, taking the cover off of it.

“Uh, Pidge? What are you doing?” He asks as she sets the vent cover to the side. She points inside the vent.

“Look,” she says. Keith frowns and looks from her to the vent and then back at her. His eyes narrow.

“Is something going to jump out at me?” He asks, crossing his arms.

“No! why would I bring you here just to scare you?” Pidge says.

Keith raises an eyebrow, skeptically. “I don’t know, Pidge. Why would you?”

She rolls her eyes and groans, “just look, trust me.”

He stares at the vent for a few seconds, before sighing. Crouching down, he peers inside. Instead of a dark and creepy tunnel like he was expecting, he sees a spacious area. What catches his eye, however, is the pile of blankets and books that are present. It takes a second for it to click that this is a _nest_ , and another second, after catching a familiar scent, to realize that this is _Lance’s_ nest.

He moves back and looks as Pidge with wide eyes. She smugly grins, pushing up her glasses. “Surprise.”

“When did you find this?” He asks.

Pidge folds her legs underneath herself. “It was an accident, really. I just came here one day and saw that the vent cover was off. My curiosity got the better of me,” she explains. “I think he forgot to close it before he left.”

Keith nods, and his gaze flickers back to the nest. It looked immensely comfortable like he could curl up in it and forget all his troubles. However, there was a part of him that felt anxious. Like he is seeing something that he shouldn’t be. The feeling dug deep into his bones, whispering to _leave, don’t touch it, forget it_. He frowned and reached for the cover, putting it back in its place.

“I wonder how many more nests he has around the castle,” Pidges says and pushes her glasses up her nose.

“There’s one in his room, and the one in the lounge,” Keith says. The one in Lance’s room – closet, technically – was one that he allowed Keith and Hunk into. It wasn’t big enough for an entire pack, so only a few of them were could enter it.

“Yeah, but we _know_ about those ones. I’m talking about his _secret_ nests,” Pidge replies.

“‘Secret nests’?” Keith repeats questioningly.

“You know, private nests. The ones that are for him and only him. Private nests tend to be hidden in places so that way only the Omega knows about them, thus the reason they are called ‘secret nests.’ Because only the Omega is allowed to know about them. Not even Pack members,” Pidge explains. “Apparently, Omega’s are really serious about their secret nests because they’ll make a bunch of them. And if they are found by anyone, they’ll either dismantle the nest or turn it into a pack nets or something.”

Keith frowns, and leans back on his heels, glancing back the vent worriedly. “So, does that mean Lance will dismantle this nest?”

“Huh? Why would he do that?” Pidge raises an eyebrow in question.

“Because we found his nest.”

Pidge frowns and glances at the vent as well. “Oh… shit. Um, maybe if he doesn’t know we found it, it’ll be okay. I mean, we didn’t go in it so it should be okay?”

“Yeah, but our scent is really close to it. That might scare him to taking it apart,” Keith points out.

Pidge’s eyes widen. “Fuck!” She shouts.

“Language.”

“That doesn’t matter right now,” Pidge shoves her hand in his face. “We gotta figure out how to solve this.”

“Well, first of all, we could move away from it,” Keith deadpans. “But you did say he might have some hidden nests more right? Maybe it won’t bother him as much that this one was found.”

Pidge sighs and stands up, patting the dust off her shorts. “I mean, you're probably right. But secret nests are like safe spaces for them. And normally when someone’s safe place is intruded on it stops being safe and can make them feel anxious. Chance are he’ll be wanting cuddles or some form of reassurances later.” She moves away from the vent and starts heading towards the door.

Following her out, Keith replies, “Then we’ll just have to be there for him. Make up for finding his nest.”

“Wise words, Keith. Wise words.”

Keith snorts. “Yeah, yeah. By the way, how do you know all this? About nests and stuff?”

“Lance. After the whole stranded on a planet incident, I kinda wanted to know more about dynamics on stuff,” Pidge shrugs.

“Really?”

“Yeah… I just…” She sighs and comes to a stop in the middle of the hallway.  “I had no idea what I was doing then. I felt so useless and… I just wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again. So, I quizzed Lance out on all of his knowledge on dynamics. Shiro and Hunk too.”

Keith frowns, “What about me?”

“Right, because you have plentiful knowledge on dynamics.”

Keith folds his arms and looks to the floor, ignoring the way his face heats up in embarrassment. She’s not wrong, sadly.

“Hey, I’m only teasing,” Pidge says and nudges Keith’s side. “Besides, I’m right there with you. I no idea what I’m doing half the time. Even with the information, I got from the others, I still don’t understand a lot of things. I think it’s just one of those things you can explain.”

“It’s all just a bunch of complicated shit to do with instincts and hormones if you ask me.”

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Pidge laughs, and they continue down the hall.

Yeah, a bunch of complicate shit to do with instincts and hormones that drive him nuts and leaves him questioning too many things. He wishes someone would just hand him a pamphlet with all the answers, or some guide to dynamics. He could ask the other’s like Pidge had, but something tells him it won’t do much good. He’ll have to figure it out as he goes.

As they return to the lounge and go back to resting in the Pack nest, he can’t help but hope that Lance doesn’t take apart the nest they found. It was the most perfect nest he has ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short, but I just wanted to do something quick. If you notice anything grammatically wrong or awkward, please let me know! Also feel free to share any ideas/prompts/things you want to see!
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://the-miss-mousie.tumblr.com/)


	14. Ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance realizes something.

So, Lance has come about a minor predicament. While he knows it shouldn’t be a big deal, he can’t help but stress about it. He’s become so stressed about this issue that he’s now hiding away deeper in the vents of the Castle where he hopefully won’t be found by anyone.

The nest Lance is in right now is not his first go-to nest since it’s in a… _risky_ spot. It’s not at risk of being found, but more like if he’s not careful he could get stuck. Much like the other nest, this one is in the vents as well, but much deeper in the system. The only who could find that would be Pidge, but she rarely goes into the vents and when she does it to pull pranks.

It’s a small space, not overly comfortable, but at least it hasn’t been compromised. Lance’s alone too so he can think. He never stays in this nest for long since he can’t handle being in small spaces long periods of time.

As of now, he’s been in this nest for a while. He can feel a slight irritation begin to settle in and he knows he’ll have to leave this nest and crawl back to his room.

But he can’t bring himself to move when he has so much on his mind.

It all started when he had snuck away after dinner to the library, particularly to his apparently ‘not-so-hidden’ nest. He cannot stress how panicked he felt when he noted how close both Keith’s and Pidge’s faint scents were to the nest – literally right next to it.

Of course, he pulled himself together, brushed off the panic and embarrassment, but he still had to decide what to do with the nest now that it had so obviously been discovered. First, he thought he could just dismantle it, but the nest was so perfect and so cozy that he couldn’t possibly destroy it. Then he figured that he could make it a nest to share with one of his packmates.

When he thought about who could possibly share the nest with, the first person to come to mind was Keith… Which wasn’t a problem, but the issue is how he _felt_ when he thought about sharing the nest with Keith.

Don’t get him wrong, he didn’t feel scared or put off by the idea, but he didn’t feel like he normally would with just any other packmate either. Rather, what he felt can only be described as what one would feel when they want to take their relationship to the next level. The anticipation, the confidence and certainty, and the swell of love had his heart racing. Sharing a nest with a packmate is one thing, but sharing a nest with a _mate_ is another.

For the majority of their relationship, Keith and Lance have technically been in the stages of courtship. Even though they label themselves as mates, they technically aren’t until they both bare each other’s marks – at least, by their standards. In some places, it's not official until they consummate via sex. It’s different in many places, but for them, they just need to bare each other’s marks…

And share a nest.

Mates sharing a nest is the instinctual parallel of buying a house with your partner. However, sharing a nest with a packmate is more or less like inviting a friend over for a sleepover. So, there’s a big difference.

Because of these feelings of his, Lance knows that he’s ready to take their relationship from courtship to official mates. His instincts pretty much gave him a gentle nudge. If he invites Keith into this nest, it won’t be as packmates, it will be more than that.

Of course, just because he feels that doesn’t mean that they have to share the nest as mates. He could set his instincts and feelings aside and share the nest with Keith as packmates, but then he is not being honest to either of them.

Lance knows what he wants to do. He wants to become mates with Keith.

However, he’s not sure if Keith is on the same page. The last thing Lance wants is to put Keith in an uncomfortable position. They’ve been together for a while, but becoming mates is a _huge_ step. Like his mama always told him, “marks like to scar and linger; they never fade easily.”

Lance is fine with how they are now, and he doesn’t want to ruin it by scaring Keith off. He can make himself content with just this.

But that still doesn’t change the fact that he is ready for more; that he _wants_ more.

Logically, Lance should talk to Keith about this, but he finds his heart racing and his limbs shaking at the thought.

Best case scenario: Keith feels the same and is ecstatic, and things go smoothly. Worst case scenario: this is the last thing Keith wants, and breaks it all off and goes as far as to avoid Lance for rest of their lives. He can’t stand the thought of Keith wanting nothing to do with him.

Frankly, he has no idea what to do. So, he’s taken up residence in his other of secret nests – the one that hasn’t been found out of the two.

He doesn’t want to go back to his room until he’s figured out whether or not he should talk to Keith. Part of him just wants to ignore for as long as he can, but that’s just the fearful side of him.

Huffing, he pushes himself up and crawls out of the nest. In the morning, he’ll come to a decision. Something tells him that he’ll talk to Keith, and he’ll just have to hope that it doesn’t go downhill.

The vents seem smaller when Lance crawls through them to get back to his room. Pushing the vent cover off of the opening, he grunts as he pulls himself out of the vent and onto the floor of his room. Rolling onto his back, he stares at the ceiling for a good moment before sighs and closes his eyes. The floor is nice and cool against his sore back. Another reason he does like the nest; his back always becomes messed up.

“Uh… Lance?”

Instantly, his eyes snap open, and he looks over to the other side of the room where Keith sits on his bed. Keith eyes are wide and flicker over to the vent opening and back to Lance. He appears confused, as his brows furrow together and he lips become pouty.

“Why were you in the vents?” He asks, getting up from the bed.

Lance freezes and opens his mouth to reply before closing it dumbly. There’s no way he’s going to tell Keith that he was in a nest. The last thing he wants is for his other nest to be found.

Eyes narrowing at Keith, he says, “well, why are you in my room?”

Keith’s pouty expression drops, and he looks to the floor, blushing. He crosses his arms, making himself smaller. “I-I was looking for you,” he explains.

Now it’s Lance’s turn to blush and avert his gaze. Obviously, Keith would be in his room because he was seeking out the Omega. But for what reason, Lance isn’t sure, but he can guess. Keith visits Lance often enough in the evening, especially if they had a mission earlier that day, so he really shouldn’t be surprised. Heck, when he thinks out it, they spend so much time together that it would be weird if Keith weren’t here.

Sighing, he pushes himself up from the floor. Keith looks stricken, and gets up from the bed and starts moving toward the door.

“I’ll just go–”

“No.” Lance gently grabs Keith’s arm. “It’s fine. I want you here.” He says, and moves his hand from Keith’s arm to the other’s hand and pulls him back the bed. Lying down, he pulls Keith to rest over him and tucks the red paladin’s head under his chin. Carefully, he runs his fingers through Keith’s hair comfortingly. The alpha always enjoyed having his hair played with. It was like some sort of pacifying technique.

Keith immediately relaxes into Lance, but his arms wrap themselves firmly around Lance’s waist.

“I was worried,” he whispers. “You disappeared after dinner, and I…”

Keith pauses.

“Hm?”

“I followed your scent to the library.”

Oh. Lance’s ministrations come to a halt, and he frowns. He has an idea where this is going, but he can’t be sure. “Okay…”

“Um, you weren’t there, and I wasn’t sure if, um, you were alright,” he says. His grips around Lance tightens.

“Why wouldn’t I be alright?” Lance asks. He needs to hear Keith say it.

“Because… because Pidge and I found your nest there.” Keith shrinks as he confesses, the guilt obvious in his tensed muscles.

“I know,” Lance says. “And honestly, I’m not alright. But not I’m not upset over my nest being found now.”

“Oh.” Keith’s brows furrow. “Then why are you upset?”

“Because I’m sure what I want to do with it now.”

Keith quickly pushes himself up to look at Lance in surprise. “Wait, you didn’t dismantle it?”

“Nope.”

He vividly relaxes and nods. “Good.”

Lance watches Keith curiously as he curls back up against Lance. His cheeks are pink, and he remains awfully quiet.

_Hmm… That’s interesting_.

Could it be possible that Keith is on the same page with him after all? He clearly doesn’t like the idea of Lance taking down the nest, so he must like it. Normally when an Alpha likes a nest, it’s a good sign for the relationship between them and the Omega that made it. But he can’t be too sure what about his nest appealed to Keith.

Lance smiles and jokes, “Geez, Keith, it seems like you like that nest for than I do.”

Frowning, Keith replies, “So what if I do?”

“Relax, I’m curious. Why do you like it so much?” He asks as he returns to running his hands through Keith’s hair, keeping him nice and relaxed. The Omega inside him pushes him to keep Keith close and content. It wants his alpha to feel like he can trust Lance.

“I… I don’t know,” Keith answers. “It just looked… safe. It kind of reminded me of what hugging you feels like. It smelled like you too.”

“Well, yeah, it is my nest. It would be weird for it to not smell like me.”

“I know, but I mean it _really_ smelled like _you_. It was like there was a part of you that I hadn’t seen before in there,” Keith says. “But it also felt like I wasn’t supposed to be there. It felt like I was violating you in some way… I’m sorry.”

Lance pulls Keith closer in, wrapping his arms firmly around him. He needs to keep Keith close for this. His Omega heart is racing. “It’s okay, Keith. Really I’m not too bothered by it.”

“Why?” Keith asks roughly. He pulls away from Lance again and sits up, looking away from Lance to glare at the wall in from of them. “We saw something that was supposed to be a safe place for you and ruined it! How are you not upset?”

“Because it was you.”

Eyes widening, he looks back at Lance and is met with a soft, warm gaze. Lance reaches out and takes Keith’s hand in his, running his thumb over his knuckles.

Keith looks at their locked hands, staring at them as though their hands will tell him what is going on.

Suddenly, Lance is leaning against him. His head rests on Keith’s shoulder, and he relaxes completely, eyes closing.

Something in Keith howls. It screams loudly. Something is going on at this moment. Something crucial. It brings his instincts alive. And he knows he has to do something otherwise he’d risk an error.

He has to think. He has to figure it out. It obviously has to do with Lance being fine with Keith finding such a vulnerable part of him. The Alpha in him is all riled up, jumping around in his heart and blood.

Suddenly, he feels a heat go down lower, sparking a longing desire. It’s overwhelming. Lance… Lance is doing something. He’s giving some sort of signal that the alpha in him recognizes, but he can’t seem to fully get his head wrapped around it.

Lance squeezes his hand and Keith is grounded again, brought out of his running mind. He looks Lance's face and sees an incredibly patient and loving gaze staring back at him. Partly, he wonders what he did to deserve Lance. Lance, his friend, his partner, love of his life, mate –

_Mate!_

The alpha in him _howls_.

Instantly, takes Lance’s face in his hands, and kisses the Omega like his life depended on it. He feels Lance smile against his lips, and he pushes him down on the bed, crawling over him. Lance’s arms rest over his shoulders, taking Keith into a gentle embrace.

Lance’s smiles against his kisses and if his heart weren’t trapped inside his ribcage, it surely would have flown away from him. Every pull and tug he feels is directing him to melt in Lance’s hold, to stick to the Omega and never leave his side. But he pulls away because he wants to see Lance’s face to confirm that this is what Lance wants.

When he pulls back, he’s met with the face of an angel. A fucking gorgeous, happy angel with glassy eyes. There’s love in Lance’s eyes, and he feels as though he’s been shot in the heart by hundreds of arrows from cupid.

Then Lance laughs, and it bloody music to his ears. It contagious too, because he’s laughing along with him. They embrace each other and laugh at this pure and uncontrolled happiness.

They’re ready for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while, but finally got this chapter done. Sorry for any grammatical errors and what not, if you notice something weird feel free to point it out to me. Also if you have any ideas or things you'd like to see, throw them at me. Give me the writer fuel. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> [Edit/Update]: Ya know what guys, I totally change my mind about how dynamics work (after spending way too much time thinking about it). Instead what determines you dynamics varies (environment, hormones, genetics, etc.); to hell with it pretty much.
> 
> The dynamics common in one's family does have a play in it, however, so if there are more beta's than their likely to be a beta and so on. So, the Holt family is mostly beta's and alpha's, in this scenario, so Pidge kind of ruled out the option of being an omega (even though it could have been possible). She's still trans tho, that ain't ever gonna change.  
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://the-miss-mousie.tumblr.com/)


	15. Protect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mission takes a wrong turn.

“I got you guys covered,” Lance says through the comms. He peers at his friends below him through his scope.

Presently, the Galra base they are at doesn’t have too many sentries, but they do have more soldiers. Fortunately, those soldiers were on the west side of the base which meant they could do those quickly and easily.

Their target of the mission was right in front of them. It was a large, weird looking weapon, and the team knew that things had to be done carefully when destroying it lest they get caught in the explosion. The objective was to set up explosives all over the room and on the weapon itself.

He smiles when he sees Keith sneak up on a soldier, knocking them out without a sound or struggle. Shiro is on the other side of the room, mirroring Keith’s movements. It’s essential that they didn’t draw attention to them, lest the guards sound the alarm and more of them coming running over to their doom.

Pidge is in her lion, cloaked, and waiting for them to get the job done so she could fly them the hell away from here. Hunk is keeping watch near the entrance, ready to let them know when they should scram.

It was Lance who had eyes on the entire room from his high place. He has to pay more attention to the middle platforms of the room that surround the large weapon. From where they are on the ground floor, Keith and Shiro aren’t able to see what is on higher levels. From what Lance sees, there are several guards present near the machine, unaware of any intruders.

“Two guards on the right of the platform, and three on the left. Possibly six or seven in total. The other two are out of my view,” Lance says. He focuses in on the platform and tries to see if he can see the faint signs of other possible guards.

“Roger that, Lance,” Shiro replies. He makes his way closer to the platforms. Shiro and Keith place more explosives on the walls. If they can avoid alerting the guards on the platforms before the explosives are placed, things showed to be fine.

The two move to where the bottom of the weapon sits on the ground floor. Explosives did not need to be placed on the upper part of it, so there was no need to interact with the guards above. Luckily, the guards make no sign of noticing anything odd. Keith places the first explosive down on the base of the weapon, and Shiro follows suit. They place the last of their explosive on the weapon. They turn to look up at Lance, giving him a thumbs up. He gives one back.

“Pidge, Hunk, the explosives are down. Get ready for extraction. Pidge, on my mark, send the code to activate them. We’ll have about three minutes to get out before this place is nothing more than debris.”

“Copy that, Shiro,” Pidge and Hunk reply in unison.

Keith and Shiro give each other a nod before they start sneaking their way back to the other end of the room. Lance keeps his eyes on all exits and the guards. He can’t leave this spot until Shiro and Keith close enough to the main exit.

For a moment, he feels as though he’s in a movie where something bad is about to happen. Something isn’t right. Everything’s going far too smoothly. He frowns and zooms back in on the guards. They're doing the same thing they have always been doing, looking bored and listening in to whatever chatter is going on in their comms. He looks at all exits again. None seem to be compromised, and no threats seem present.

What about the highest level? They’re supposed to be empty. His gaze goes up, and he checks the levels across from him and finds them to be enemy free. He looks to his left and right. It’s all clear.

But the air reeks of _Alpha._

Lance feels the hairs on his arms raise.

He spins on his heal just in time to see a large hand reaching to grab him. In a panic, he raises his rifle and shoots the offending appendage.

The sound of the shot echoes in the room.

_Quiznack._

The guards on the middle platforms look up and spot the Blue Paladin, but one spots Keith and Shiro halfway down the room.

“There!” The guard shouts. They all begin running towards Shiro and Keith. Instantly, the room is lit up by flashing lights and a blaring alarm sound. Suddenly, sections of the walls around them open up to reveal rows of sentries.

Shiro’s arm lights up, and Keith takes out his bayard. As the sentries begin to move forward, circling the two, they knew they were in for an intense fight.

“Hunk! We’re gonna need your help here!” Shiro shouts through the comms.

“Already on my way, Shiro!” Hunk replies.

Pidge curses under her breath. “ _You guys better make it quick! The soldiers on the west side are making their way over to you!”_

“Lance, are you alright?!” Keith asks. He may be dodging shots aimed to kill, but he still has enough attention to spare.

Lance doesn’t respond, as he focuses more on avoiding the large Galra soldier in front of him. His shot hadn’t done any damage to the solider, and he simply appeared amused by Lance’s attempt. Quickly, Lance ducks under the large arm that swipes at him.

He lunges forward and slides past the large soldier who growls furiously.

“I’m fine!” Lance calls through the comms. Unfortunately, that was a lie as he is far from fine. Something snaps at his ankle, and in seconds his world is flipped upside down.

He yelps as he goes down, head cracking on the floor. An electric whip is wrapped around his ankle, and his eyes trace it back to the grinning soldier. Lance desperately tries to claw at the floor as the soldier starts pulling him back.

“Got you, little paladin,” He says.

Lance snarls and bares his teeth. He aims his bayard at the Galra and fires again. The shot doesn’t hit the soldier but rather hits some invisible force-field around him.

_Are you kidding me!?_ He thinks.

Lance aims his second shot at the whip which then fizzes out, releasing him. Lance bolts as soon as he can.

The Galra growls and chases after him. He lashes the whip out at Lance a couple of times, each one thankfully missing as Lance zig-zags his way down the halls.

He needs to get down to the lower level with the others. He can help them, and they can help him get rid this guy. At least that what he thinks until the whip snaps around his waist.

“Ah!” He yells as he is yanked backwards. Landing on his back with a harsh thud, he scrambles to get back on his feet. The large Galra is upon him in seconds, and a large hand grabs him from the back of his neck, lifting him up in the air.

“Thought you could get away from me, little paladin?” The Galra snarls out victoriously. Lance struggles in his hold and quickly aims his bayard back at the soldier.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the best move as the soldier simply yanks the bayard out his hand and tosses it down the hall. Lance curses internally. He doesn’t like this, he needs to get this Galra’s hands off of him and _away from his neck._

“Let go of me!” He desperately claws at the Galra’s hand. The soldier laughs and brings Lance closer. His fangs gleam and Lance stiffens at the sight of them.

 “Now, now, don’t struggle too much. Wouldn’t want to hurt yourself too much, now would you?” The Galra hisses.

* * *

 

Keith growls as he fights off one of the larger guards that had charged towards them. He ducks under the soldier’s swinging sword. Sword in hand, he swipes at the soldier’s leg, and collapse to the floor with a howl. Quickly, he elbows the soldier’s head and falls to the floor, unconscious.

He only has a second to catch his breath before another soldier is at his back. They hold a gun but clearly can’t aim as Keith manages to dodge the attack with ease. Spinning around brings his sword up and slices the weapon in half.

The Galra soldier seems stunned and stares the damaged weapon with awe. Keith knocks him unconscious in a matter of seconds.

A loud yell comes from his right, and he sees Hunk body checking three sentries at once. All Galra soldiers were incapacitated, Keith notes, as he looks around the room. They only had sentries to worry about. _Far too many sentries._

Keith runs towards a group that has surrounded Shiro, jumping in and slicing many of them in half. But for every sentry taken down, more only take their place.

Keith snarls, “We don’t have time for this!”

They need to get out before they are even more severely outnumbered.

“ _I’m working on it!”_ Pidge yells through the comms. Keith frowns for a second, wondering what Pidge is doing until the sections in the wall abruptly close up. The flow of sentries is finally cut off. “ _Done!”_

“Thank you, Pidge!” Hunk bellows out, firing his bayard at a dwindling crowd of sentries.

“Thank me later! Just hurry up and get out of there,” She replies.

“Lance! How are you doing?” Shiro calls.

There’s no reply.

“Lance!” Keith yells through the comms. Still no reply. His heart drops to his stomach as he dreads what the silence means.

* * *

 

Lance hears the call of his friends through his helmet that sits several feet away from him, having been ripped off his head by the Galra soldier. He desperately wants to call out to them, but he doubts that they would hear him from this distance. Not to mention, there’s a clawed hand wrapped dangerously around his throat.

Lance growls and claws at the hand. He kicks his legs back in attempt to get the soldier to loosen his grip, but it simply angers the solider even more. He snarls loudly and slams Lance against the wall.

Lance body locks up in a panic. He’s cornered by a large, angry Galra soldier who’s also an Alpha, he’s weaponless now, and he’s separated from his Pack. Even so, Lance knows this could get worse. If this soldier gets too close and manages to figure out Lance’s scent, then things will take a turn for the worse for sure.

His worries, unfortunately, come true when the soldier leans in to speak into his ear.

“You’re captured, little paladin,” He laughs, “And soon your friends will be too.” A shiver crawls up Lance’s spine as the feels the warmth of the soldier’s breath against his neck.

The soldier sniffs and Lance feels him stiffen with his grip on Lance tightening.

“Well… isn’t this interesting,” He drawls.

_Shit_.

“I didn’t think that a Paladin of Voltron could possibly be an Omega,” The soldier laughs. Lance feels his heartbeat race at the words.

Lance knows that the Galra have dynamics, but he had only ever encountered Betas and Alphas, so he had assumed that Omegas didn’t exist among the Galra population. Clearly, they were wrong about that since this soldier was able to label Lance’s dynamic. They must not be common or perhaps are treated terribly.

Still, this doesn’t change the fact that Lance is in increasingly more danger. If Galra dynamics are anything like human ones, then Lance has every right to fear for his life.

Unfortunately, his struggles only amuse the soldier.

“It’s been a while since I’ve held an Omega by the throat,” he comments. A clawed thumb runs along Lance’s jaw. “When I hand the paladins of Voltron over to Emperor Zarkon, I wonder if he’ll give the honour of keeping one for a prize. I’m sure you’ll bring me plenty of entertainment.”

“Over my dead body!” Lance snarls, feeling a roaring in his mind. _Blue_.

“More like over your fellow paladin’s dead bodies,” He chuckles. The Galra’s claws begin to dig into Lance’s skin, and he hisses. The large hand forces his chin upward, and his neck is bared.

The Galra’s smirk falls, and his eyes widen. “Well, would you look at that! It seems some Alpha has claimed you… and recently too. It’s still red.” Golden eyes narrow and stare down at the bond mark on Lance’s neck.

“Such a small mark. Must have been a _weak_ Alpha. Is it from one your fellow paladins? I wonder how angry they will feel if they see a stronger mark over theirs.” The soldier grins with malice. His sharp teeth gleam. “After all, the strong destroy the weak.”

Frantically, Lance looks around for anything to aid him. His bayard lies several feet away from him, out of reach. He reaches out to it in vain with the faint hope that maybe he can summon it back to him. It doesn’t budge, and he chokes on a strangled whimper.

The soldier ignores Lance’s desperation. His focus rests on Lance’s neck, on the mark, and he moves in.

Four things happen in an instant.

Lance screams.

His bayard reforms in his outstretched hand, gun at the ready.

A familiar voice screams his name in horror, “Lance!”

And Lance pulls the trigger.

The soldier growls as the shot does nothing but startling him as his force-field still protects him from the impact. However, his grip on Lance falters which is all that is needed for Lance to kick the soldier back.

Lance falls to the ground with a grunt and instantly readies himself for another attack, but it never comes. A black, white, and purple blur rams into the soldier, knocking him to the ground with a resounding thud.

A few feet away from Lance, Shiro hovers over the soldier with bared teeth and sharp eyes. His glowing arm is pressed to the soldier’s throat. There’s a heavy tension that hangs over them, but Lance feels grateful that he’s not alone anymore. Even so, Lance gets up on his shaking knees and holds his bayard tightly, still cautious.

“Lance! Shiro!” Hunk calls as he rounds the corner and sees them.

Lance glances over his shoulder see Hunk rushing over with Keith hot on his heels. His nerves calm down slightly now that some of his packmates are closer, and when Keith comes to his side, he finds himself breathing steadier. Lance can’t help but feel safe now that his Pack is present, even though they are still in enemy territory and are still far from being safe.

Hunk looks between Lance and the knocked down Galra soldier, seemingly puts things together easily. He places himself firmly in front of Lance and Keith, blocking them from the soldier’s sight. His bayard is held firmly in his hands, ready to fire if necessary.

Everything comes to a standstill.

The Galra soldier is frozen to the floor, his face stoic. It’s likely that he knows that if he even twitches he could very well have his throat slashed open. It’s also likely that he forming an attack and merely waiting for the right moment.

Everybody else has become just as unmoving as the soldier. Lance knows what they’re all waiting for. Right now, their Pack Alpha has yet to decided what to do with the soldier seeing as he his just a frozen as the rest of them. Will he choose to kill the soldier or to simply knock them out?

The way Keith holds Lance tightly, he knows that Keith would very much prefer the soldier dead. Lance, oddly enough, finds himself not caring what becomes of the soldier. In the end, it comes down to Shiro’s decision anyway.

It’s Pidge’s voice through the comms that reminds them all just where they are.

_“The clock is ticking, guys!”_ She says.

They still have a weapon to destroy and not a whole lot of time before the other soldiers arrive at this side of the base. When they take out the weapon, the whole base will be destroyed. It’s unlikely that any soldiers they already incapacitated will survive, let alone the others yet to arrive. The answer is as clear as day.

It’s easy to tell when Shiro comes to this conclusion as well. His eyes lose their sharpness, and his arm starts to dim. In a quick movement, Shiro hits the soldier across the head before he has the time to fight back, rendering the Galra unconscious.

He grunts as he stands up and off of the soldier. The others relax just a bit, but there is a stiffness in their forms as they remain on guard.

“Let’s get out before any more show up,” he says. They all nod and begin to move back down the hall. Keith helps Lance up and practically glues himself to Lance’s side as they quickly make their way to the exit.

“Are you okay?” He asks, quietly.

“Been better, But I’ll be fine once we get back home,” Lance replies. He’s not completely lying. He knows he’ll be fine once they get back to the castle, but there’s a tenseness inside that is threatening to crack. He doesn’t plan on break downing over this. Everything turned out okay, so there’s no need to get hung up on it.

They flee back out the way they came, removing any new sentries that had arrived with ease. Once they’re near the exit, Shiro gives Pidge the signal. She sends the code, and the countdown begins.

The enter the Green Lion in seconds, and Pidge takes off immediately. The bases defence weapons, having activated, fire at them as she flies them away from the planet. There were a few close calls, but Pidge managed to get them away safely.

The firing stops when the base erupts in fire and debris. The thundering boom of the explosion shakes the Green Lion. The first boom is followed by even more echoing explosions. There is no doubt in Lance’s mind that the base was likely going to be nothing but dust.

They don’t stop flying until they were back safely at the castle. Even then, there’s a tension in the cockpit. This was not a run of the mill, easy-peasy mission. They never have easy missions. But this time was just grimmer than the others. Perhaps it was the fact that they had all ambushed, destroyed a weapon and consequently killed many soldiers. The question if they could have done something differently was undoubtedly in many of their minds.

The fact that one of their packmates had been assaulted and almost violated made things even worse. Keith remains closely on Lance’s left, firmly holding Lance’s hand, while Hunk is on his right. He’s cautious to hold Lance’s hand or to rest his arm over Lance’s shoulders to comfort him. The last thing Hunk wants to do was to make Lance feel uncomfortable.

Pidge pilots the Green Lion into the hangar. Allura’s and Coran’s voices cheerfully speak through the comms, likely successful with their own diplomatic mission. But they receive no answer from the Paladins.

The team can’t bring themselves to speak when their focus is one of their own. Controlling their roaring instincts is hard. Control is almost impossible when blood drip from Lance’s neck, from the partial bite wound caused by an enemy with cruel intentions.

Hunk’s control falters completely when Lance seems to finally come out his shock. Lance bends over with a gasp, as though he’s been holding his breath. The noticeable tremble in his form sends a pang of guilt through him. If they had been faster, paid more attention, then maybe Lance would have been okay. He expresses his regret and sympathy by placing his palm on Lance’s back, rubbing it comfortingly.

Pidge jumped from her seat to kneel on the floor near Lance. Sometimes, it’s best to keep some distance, especially in cases such as these. Shiro doesn’t move from his spot, knowing that crowing Lance could make things worse, and instead remains stiff and alert. After all, sometimes having a packmate at a distance, keeping a protective watch over the Pack, tends to help make packmates feel more secure.

“You’re okay, Lance,” Keith whispers, still holding Lance’s hand. “You’re okay. You’re safe now.”

Lance lets out a small sob.

“You’re safe, Lance.”

If there was one thing that they could all agree on, it was that they would make sure that that stayed true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way too much time to complete.


	16. Can't Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk can't sleep.

The castle is quiet, even lacking the groans and creaks that normally echo through the night. The silence, strangely, only makes it even more difficult for Hunk to fall asleep. Even as he is surrounded by a resting Pack in the Pack Nest, his worries and stress remain. It’s been several hours since the mission, and the Pack managed to come back down from the rush of it. However, there was still a protectiveness present amongst the Pack. This protectiveness was unlikely to fade anytime soon.

Hunk knows that out of all them Keith and Shiro were probably the most protective. They were the last two to fall asleep, besides Hunk of course, and they had remained alert and guarded for the majority of the time. Shiro, asleep near the edge of the nest, only relaxed because of Allura’s convincing. Hunk supposes that’s one of the benefits of having a second Alpha, they can take command and guard in the place of another Alpha, allowing the other to relax and de-stress.

Keith fell asleep after Shiro. He is curled up around Lance, cradling the other. He had been incredibly hyper-aware of his mate since they got back to the castle. The partial bite mark on Lance had triggered Keith’s instincts tenfold. They’re mate-ship is still new, and was just threatened by an enemy Alpha.

Lance’s _life_ was just threatened by an enemy Alpha.

It was definitely a hard blow to the Pack.

This incident didn’t just spark protectiveness in the Pack but also brought awareness. They now have some concerning knowledge. The Galra have dynamics just like them, and Omegas are clearly at the bottom of the hierarchy. This knowledge irked Hunk in a way that made him want to stick close to the Pack Omega.

Luckily, Keith wasn’t a possessive Alpha, so he didn’t growl and try to push Hunk away when he lied down next to them. Sometimes Hunk wonder’s if it’s because he’s a Beta that Keith is more welcoming of Hunk’s presence. Perhaps, if he were an Alpha, Keith would be warier of letting Hunk get so close. However, the way Keith interacts with Shiro disproves that idea. Keith’s simply not put off by the presence of other Pack members and is not threatened by them. Of course, that might be because they’ve never been in a situation that would warrant possessive or hostile reactions.

Hunk’s thankful that this is not a situation that would make one’s mate aggressive to the presence of others. He doesn’t think he’d be able to handle it if he couldn’t be next to Lance and reassure himself that everything was okay now.

When they returned to the castle, they had a quick debriefing but not until they managed to pull themselves together and tend to any injuries they had obtained. Lance’s neck was bandaged up, Hunk had an ointment rubbed over his bruised ribs (body checking is not the best thing to do), and Keith had a similar ointment on his hands. Given the situation, they were incredibly lucky to get out with just those injuries.

Allura and Coran expressed strong concern when they learned of what occurred. They expressed even more worry and confusion when they were told of what happened to Lance. When asked of their knowledge about Galra dynamics, Allura and Coran were shocked to hear that Omegas existed. Apparently, ten thousand years ago the Galra were only known to have Betas and Alphas. However, they were unsure as to whether Omegas were a newly formed dynamic or if they had always existed and were just kept out of public eye. The team agreed that it is important to research more about the current dynamics of the Galra so that they could know what they were dealing with.

Hunk knows for a fact that this is something Pidge will dive right into, and he’s surprised that’s she asleep right now. He fully expects to look over and see her typing away on her laptop, but instead, he sees her nestled in close to Keith. It’s better, he thinks, that she sleeps instead. They all need rest after such a mission.

Yet, he can’t bring himself to give in to sleep.

He’s exhausted, and Hunk would love to join his Pack in slumber, but he doesn’t like what he sees when he closes his eyes. He doesn’t like how his mind won’t stop running. If only his brain had an off switch, then he could dive into unconsciousness. Unfortunately, humans don’t work like that. As much as he wants to stick close to his Pack, he doubts he’ll get any sleep if he doesn’t do something.

This hasn’t been the first time his troubles have kept him up a night, and he had a decent solution for it. So, he carefully pulled himself away from the nest and his Pack. No one stirred, and he silently slipped out of the room.

The kitchen isn’t far, but he’s not quite sure that he wants to stress bake in the middle of the night. Besides, he’ll likely find himself fighting over the kitchen with Coran in the morning when it’s the time to make breakfast. He’s not in the mood to tinker with machines either, and he has all day tomorrow to do so. At times like this, he knows just what to do.

Hunk heads down the hall to his room. Once inside, he flicks the lights on and goes to his closet. Inside are clothes, some knick-knacks he had picked up over time, a toolbox, and a large wooden box. He picks up the large wooden box and heads to the corner of his room where a small workstation is set up.

The rooms had many secrets to them, notably that extra furniture could be pulled out from the walls. Lance has a couch and TV in his room, and Shiro has a small seating area and desk. Hunk has no idea what Pidge has in her room, and Keith doesn’t have anything in his except for his bed.  Hunk made himself a workstation and set up a couch and TV as well.

Placing the box down on the desk, he opens it and takes out the objects inside. Said objects were carving tools and a large block of wood that had already been chipped away at to form a figure. Hunk moves the box to the floor and takes a seat at the desk. Picking up the wood and a small carving knife, he continues his work.

Wood carving wasn’t a hobby he had when they were on earth. He had picked it up while they had spent some extra time on Olkarion. It was nice to have something new to do, and he figured he was doing pretty well. His carving skills were improving with every new figurine he made. The top shelf of his closet is almost full of wooden figurines.

He recently started a series of carvings dedicated to his friends. He managed to complete two carvings already, a dolphin for Lance and an owl for Pidge. He knows Lance loves dolphins, and he remembers Pidge making a comment about owls being her favourite animal.

Right now he was working on a carving for Keith. It was a bit difficult trying to find out what animal was Keith’s favourite, but he eventually learned that Keith adored cats. During a diplomatic mission, on a planet called Tarrio that was known for having an abundance in feline species, Hunk got to witness the normally stoic Keith turn into a smiley, gushy mess when a small kitten brushed up against his leg. After that, Keith did confess to Hunk that he was more comfortable around cats than any other animal. Immediately, Hunk sent to work on carving a figurine that resembled that kitten that he had seen Keith interact with.

He’s still trying to learn what Shiro’s, Allura’s, and Coran’s favourite animals are. He’s been keeping his eyes and ears out for any clues. Once he knows, he can begin carving their figurines. But, for now, he’ll focus on Keith’s carving.

Hunk cuts away at the wood, and he eventually gets the form closer to resembling that of a cat. He begins adding some detail to the figure, and smoothing out the form when there’s a sudden knock at his door. Hunk flinches at the sound and turns away from his work.

Quickly, he packs up his work and places it back in the box. When they knocking returns, he says, “Yeah?”

The door opens, and Coran steps in. Hunk blinks in surprise.

“Coran? What are you doing up?” Hunk asks. The last place he saw Coran was in the Pack Nest with the others, and he was fast asleep.

“It’s funny you ask me that, as that’s what I came to ask you,” Coran comments. “Shouldn’t you be with sleeping with the team?”

“Yeah…” Hunk rubs the back of his neck. “I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Is that so?” Coran says, raising a brow. “What’s keeping you up, lad?”

Hunk sighs. “I think it’s pretty obvious.”

Coran nods and says, “Ah. I suppose it is. But it doesn’t hurt to talk about it.”

“I guess I’m still a little shaken up about it,” Hunk replies. “I feel… like I should be over it by now. It’s done and we safe now. But I just can’t calm my nerves.” His nerves had only calmed down a little since he started working on his hobby. He had aimed to continue carving until he was calm enough to sleep.

“Hunk, there is nothing wrong with still being bothered by the mission. It was hard on all of you. One of your packmates was assaulted, not to mention the mission itself was far from easy.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t the one attacked–”

“That doesn’t mean your emotions aren’t valid, Hunk,” Coran interrupts him. “Your feelings are not lesser. They are completely justifiable. You have the right to feel stressed and anxious.” Coran remains firm and places his hand on Hunk’s shoulder. “I may not fully understand how your dynamics work and the connection you have with Pack members, but I do know that from what I’ve seen that you are all incredibly close to one another, even closer than the Paladins of Old. For that reason, I’m sure that the others will agree with me when I say that you are right to feel the way you do. And I’m sure that they would drag you back into the Pack Nest for those cuddle piles you all seem to enjoy.”

Hunk chuckles. Hunk knows Coran is completely right in that his Pack wouldn’t simply sit by and do nothing. He also supposes that Coran is right about his feelings, but that doesn’t change the fact he still doesn’t like feeling the way he does. Nevertheless, he nods and says, “I guess you’re right.”

“I course I’m right! Now, let’s get you back to the Pack Nest. You need to get some sleep tonight,” Coran says with a smile.

“Can’t argue with that,” Hunk says as he feels a yawn creep up on him. The carvings can be finished another time.

He follows Coran out his room and back to the nest. Coran strikes up some conversation which is mostly him talking about some adventure he went on in his youth. Honestly, Hunk finds himself amazed by Coran’s vast experiences.

Everyone’s still asleep when they return, but some appear to have moved around a bit. Pidge, for example, has practically flipped around and is sprawled out like a starfish, which brings a fond smile to Hunk’s lips. Keith is still clinging to Lance, and vice versa. Hunk’s eyes widen when he spots Allura and Shiro. Allura has her arms wrapped around Shiro’s torso from behind, and she seems to have gotten bigger in size. She most likely unconsciously used her shapeshifting abilities. Hunk didn’t expect to see either of them spooning, let alone Allura being the big spoon. However, both Shiro and Allura have never looked so peaceful and, well, _asleep_. They should probably sleep like that more if this is the outcome.

Carefully, sneaks back into the nest to lie next to Lance again. Almost instantly Lance shifts and Hunk freezes, but Lance simply rolls over, still in Keith’s hold, and nuzzles Hunk’s shoulder. For a second, Hunk wonders if Lance is actually awake but Lance starts hugging Hunks arm, and he knows that Lance is still dead asleep.

Somehow, everything thing feels alright now. Hunk’s worries are still present, but now are quieter. Hunk knows that he just needs to sleep and that he will feel much better in the morning. However, there’s just one more thing that is bothering him at the moment.

Hunk looks over to the outside of the nest, where Coran is. Frowning when Coran starts making his way out of the room, Hunk shifts uncomfortably.

“Coran?” Hunk calls out, still trying to be quiet as to not wake his packmates.

Coran stops and turns around. “Yes?”

“Aren’t you going to join us?” Hunk says, raising an expectant.

“Ah, yes. I have some tests and system checks to run first. The castle must be in tip-top shape in case of any emergencies!” Coran explains.

“Didn’t you do that earlier today though?” Hunk says, eyes narrowing. “I’m pretty sure that everything’s fine and nothing has changed since you last did system checks.”

There’s a pause.

Then, Coran sighs. “I suppose you’re right about that.”

“Of course I’m right!” Hunk replies with a small smile. “Now get in this nest and sleep.”

Coran chuckles and walks over to the nest. “Alright. It would be unwise to not take some of my own advice.” Coran slides in the space between Shiro and Pidge. Instantly, the older man seems to relax, and Hunk realizes that this is the first time that Coran has entered the Pack Nest since that incident on Teva. This doesn’t sit too well with Hunk, and he decides that Coran definitely needs a to more breaks.

A metaphorical lightbulb lights up above his head.

Perhaps, a conversation with Allura is in order, and he has no doubt that she would agree with him. After all, they have been working hard these past few weeks. They all deserve a nice break.

He falls asleep formulating a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like the idea of Hunk enjoying wood-carving.
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://the-miss-mousie.tumblr.com/)


	17. Tenderness

Keith frowns as he stares at the redden-mark on Lance’s neck. It’s been healing slowly over the past few days and is beginning to scare. The mark would be long gone by now if Lance had let them put him in a pod, but for some reason, he was completely against it. It doesn’t sit right with Keith, but at the same time, he can understand that Lance wouldn’t want to be shoved into a cramped, cold space all alone when he needs his Pack.

            They had all stuck close to one another afterwards, spending even more time in the Pack Nest. As nice as it was, the closeness was starting to bother Keith and Lance. They needed some time to be alone together and take a breath. By resting in _their_ private nest, they were able to achieve this.

            In Keith’s opinion, their nest has become cozier since they officially became mates. He could see each other’s quirks within the shape of the nest and the materials around them. At first, he was hesitant to enter the nest and was always seek permission, but now he’ll slip into the nest whenever he feels like it thanks to Lance’s constant reassurance. He spends more time in their nest than in his own room now which is slightly concerning. Is he getting to attached? Too dependent on this nest? He’s not sure, and while part of him doesn’t care another is terrified.

He hopes that this attachment is normal.

“You okay there, man?” Lance asks, looking up from his work.

“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking,” Keith mumbles back. Lance hums and looks back down at Keith’s fingernails, inspecting the newly applied nail polish. Keith new that packmates would groom each other from time to time, but he never thought that doing each other’s nail counted as ‘grooming.’ According to Lance, grooming involves more than just playing with hair.

“Don’t think too much, you might hurt yourself,” Lance says with a teasing smile.

“If I do, I’m sure you’ll take good care of me,” Keith replies and enjoys the sight of Lance blush.

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

Lance reaches for Keith’s other hand and begins to apply another coat of polish. Once Lance’s focus is on the task, Keith’s eyes flicker back to Lance’s neck. His jaw twitches. He can’t explain it, but for some reason, he can’t stop examining the mark – both his and the _other_ one.

He wonders how long it will take for the scar to fade – _if_ it will fade at all. Bond marks don’t fade if they are done properly, he knows that, but sometimes there are exceptions when a strong Alpha is involved. With the Alpha responsible for the mark gone, it should fade and have no effect on Lance. There’s still a part of Keith that worries.

“Keith, you’re doing it again,” Lance says, halting his work and setting the nail polish aside.

Keith quickly averts his gaze from Lance’s neck. “Sorry.”

Gentle hands cup Keith’s face and guide him to look into caring eyes. Lance feels warm when he settles onto Keith’s lap. His own hands find themselves resting around Lance’s torso.

“What’s really going on?” Lance asks. Keith sighs and leans his face into Lance’s hand. He doesn’t know how to answer Lance. He doesn’t even know why he’s so bothered. It’s hard trying to explain something you don’t even understand.

Lance’s frown only deepens when Keith shrugs. It’s not a good enough answer. If he can’t say it, then maybe he can show it. His eyes flicker back to Lance’s neck. Something stirs in his chest. His hand moves to rest over Lance's neck. Tentatively, his finger brush over his mark.

A small gasp escapes Lance. He looks at Keith, confused. Keith leans forward and softly presses his lips to the mark. He feels Lance relax under his touch, confusion washing away under the simple gesture.

“Oh,” Lance says. A gentle hand cups the back of Keith’s head, fingers playing with the locks of hair. “Right, I guess I should have expected this.”

Keith almost wants to ask what Lance means by that, but he guesses that how he feels must be normal in this circumstance. However, he can’t seem to figure out his feelings on it. Is he angry? Sad? Distressed? It feels like all of them jumbled together in a hellish mess.

But Lance seems to know. Lance presses a kiss to Keith’s temple and pushes him back to trace his thumb over Keith’s cheekbone.

“You okay with doing it again?” Lance asks with a small smile and Keith frowns.

_‘Do it again?’ What is he talking about?_

Lance notices Keith’s confusion and taps the mark on his neck with his finger. “This. You want to do it again?”

Oh, Lance is asking if he wants to mark him again.

Keith’s eyes widen, and his jaw drops. “W-what? Again?” Keith shakes his head rapidly. “No!”

Lance deflates, his figure shrinks away at the outburst. It makes Keith wince, and he mumbles an apology. “Why not? It’s that _asshole’s_ mark that’s bothering you or at least the Alpha in you. When things like this happen, normally you do it again to strengthen your mate-ship. I know that remarking tends to calm Alpha’s down a lot and cheer them up.”

“Seriously? It’s normal to do it more than once?” Keith guffaws. “But it hurts like hell!”

“Well, yeah. But that’s why it mostly happens during, you know… sex. It’s less painful with all the endorphins and stuff,” Lance flushes red. He swallows, and quietly continues, “But, I mean, the pain is worth it, right?”

“I don’t regret it, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Keith quietly replies. “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

He pauses.

“You’ve been hurt enough already.” It’s so quiet that Lance barely catches it, but he does, and it makes his heart ache.

“Hey, look at me,” Lance firmly says and brings both his hands up to caress Keith’s face. “You won’t hurt me. I know you will be as careful as possible just like the first time, but if you really aren’t okay with it, we don’t have to. No mark could replace yours anyway.”

Keith nods, accepting Lance’s reply. As much as he wants to ignore the restless feeling in his chest, he knows he will continue to feel like this until something is done or at the very least until that other mark on Lance has faded. The howling inside him is strong but doesn’t overcome his worry and fear over Lance. Maybe some other time he’ll be more okay with remarking Lance, but for now, he just wants Lance close and safe.

Slumping forward against Lance’s chest, Keith breathes in Lance’s relaxing scent. He holds Lance tighter, and they fall back into the sheets. One of Lance’s hands rests between his shoulder blades, while the other plays with his hair.

When Lance starts quietly humming, Keith is certain that Lance has some mystical hold over the Alpha in him. The howling calms down, and the unease starts to wash away. For this moment, he feels safe and secure.

He wants Lance to feel the same way too. A rumble in his chests starts almost automatically, and it just barely catches him off-guard. It’s a unique Alpha sound, usually used to comfort mates. Lance seems to melt under his touch, and he knows that Lance is content. Pride fills his chest. His Omega is happy and safe.

The rumbling continues even after they’ve fallen asleep. 

* * *

 

“Should someone go get them?” Hunk asks while he dishes himself up a plate of ‘gourmet’ food-goo (it’s just blue instead of green this time).

“Nah, let those two dorks be lovey-dovey,” Pidge says, her mouth full of goo. Hunk’s surprised she was even paying attention seeing as most of her focus is on her computer screen.

“Pidge is right. They need some time alone since they haven’t had any for a while now,” Shiro comments. “We’ll just set aside some food-goo for them.”

  “Right, I forgot they hadn’t had their “Post Traumatic Experience Mate Bonding” time yet,” Hunk says with a frown. “I hope they don’t hide from us for, like, a week or something.”

“We’ll probably see them sometime tomorrow, don’t worry about it, Hunk,” Shiro reassures him with a sympathetic smile. He knows that Hunk’s still working off the stress and anxiety, and that being able to see Keith and Lance would make it better. But they all need some time to themselves once in a while.

Shiro shoves another spoonful of food-goo into his mouth and spares a glance at Allura. She’s been awfully quiet and has been simply stabbing at her food-goo rather than eating which has him feeling slightly worried.

“Allura, are you okay?” Shiro asks causing Allura to jump in her seat.

“What? Oh! Yes, I’m alright, Shiro. Just lost in my thoughts that’s all,” Allura quickly replies, waving off his worry.

“Right…” Shiro frowns.

“Actually, though, I was wondering what Hunk meant about that, er, ‘Mate Bonding’ thing involving Lance and Keith,” She leans closer to Shiro, hoping for some explanation. _Or perhaps a distraction,_ Shiro thinks.

“Well, it really speaks for itself. Whenever something traumatic happens, mates typically will hide away together, just to ease any worry and anxiety that they both may have. It’s similar to the Pack Bonding we had early, but with just the two of them.”

“So, there’s lots of intimacy and reassuring involved then?”

“More or less, but it’s different for every relationship. Sometimes the activities vary. There might be grooming involved, cuddling, or even more active things like playing games or training. It depends on the people involved. Since this is Keith and Lance we are talking about, they’re probably hiding away in one of Lance’s nests,” Shiro says.

Allura hums, “That sounds nice. You know, if you ignore the bad things that happened beforehand.”

Shiro chuckles, “I was told that Mate Bonding feels like your spending time with your soulmate.”

“Soulmate, huh?” Coran pipes up, seemingly popping out of thin air between Shiro and Allura. “That sounds like the _Aeternus_ _Ritual_ we had on Altea. It was quite the romantic craze, especially among younger folk. Lovers would spend time together in scared temples for 20 Quintants and would come together to form an eternal bond between them. Essentially becoming soulmates!”

Shiro blinks, “I don’t think that our ‘Mate Bonding’ is as serious as that sounds, Coran.”

“Yes, well, the feelings of connectivity do seem to be present in both from what I’ve seen –”

“Oh my god!” Pidge abruptly stands up, her chair falling to the floor and startling everyone. Her wide eyes stare at her computer screen with earnest attention. She looks… _excited_.

“Pidge?” Shiro says cautiously.

“I found him!”

“What? Found who?” Hunk frowns, setting his spoon down onto his plate. She pulls her glittering eyes away from the computer to look forward at him.

“Matt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just something small, and to provide insight on what bond-marks are like.  
> Also, we will see Matt soon.
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://the-miss-mousie.tumblr.com)


	18. A Trickster pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something bad is loose in the castle.

“Okay, so… Let me get this straight,” Hunk says, “There’s something called a ‘ _Lykie’_ loose in the castle?”

“Unfortunately,” Coran replies, looking a bit annoyed. His eyes are narrowed at the map of the castle. Allura even glares at the map, almost as though staring hard enough could cause a blip to show up.

“And that’s a bad thing?” Lance asks with a frown. “What even is a ‘Lykie’?”

“Oh, they are the nastiest little things!” Coran sniffs, “They enjoy causing havoc and being absolute pests!”

“Uh huh… so they are like kids then?” Keith says with a frown. Lance snorts and elbows him in the ribs. Although, Hunk can’t really disagree with that logic. His niece and nephew weren’t an easy bunch to control with all their pranks.

“Worse!” Coran’s exclaims. “They lurk about, spying on their victims, learning everything they can before they strike. Then they like to mess with their prey’s minds, driving them to the brink of insanity! Once their victim’s spirits have been weakened, they use mysterious powers to lure them away and devour them!”

The team, minus Allura, looks at Coran in shock.

“Wait, seriously? They’re that dangerous?” Hunk asks, straightening up in his seat. His eyes flicker around the room cautiously.

“Incredibly so,” Allura replies. “Since we haven’t noticed them until we have no idea how long this Lykie has been watching us. The only reason we even spotted it was because it slipped up last night…”

“‘Slipped up?’” Shiro inquires.

“Yes; it tried to… _alter_ my dreams. If I wasn’t so in tune with my own quintessence, I don’t think I would have noticed the shift of energy. It woke me up and I was able to catch a glimpse of it before it had the chance to go invisible again,” Allura explains.

Hunk feels his already present worry grow. These things can alter _dreams_? And they tried to alter Allura’s? Obviously, Coran wasn’t exaggerating this time. This was no furious beast turns out to be a cute, friendly companion scenario. He’s almost worried about what it tried to do to Allura while altering her dreams. Something tells him that he doesn’t want to know why would it need to do such a thing anyway.

“The Lykie must an older one then,” Coran says, “if it’s capable of mind manipulation. Since it could be anywhere on the ship, we all must stay alert. Hunk, I need your help on upgrading our detection systems.”

Hunk nods, “Got it.”

“I’ll move the castle to a safer location. The last thing we need is the Galra to attack right now,” Allura says and takes her place in the center of the control room. “Keith, Lance, you two can manually search the castle for any signs of it. Shiro, you’ll stay with me. It’s best we stick together in groups. No one should go off alone.”

“Aye-aye captain,” Lance says and gives her salute. Allura raises a questioning brow as he grabs onto Keith’s arm and tugs him out of the room, “Let's go catch us some trouble!”

“Be careful, you two!” Coran calls before the door slides shut.

“Are we sure it was a good idea to send them out?” Hunk asks, giving Allura a worried glance.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Allura says.

“Don’t you worry, Hunk,” Coran says with a smile. “As long as no one goes off on their own, everything will be just fine. Lykies isolate their victims because they can’t handle more than one individual at a time.”

“Uh huh…” Hunk’s frown deepens. He gets the feeling that this Lykie might be smart enough to figure out how to separate them from each other. If this thing can affect minds, it might be able to do more things – like mess with their tech. Perhaps, if Pidge were here, she could make sure that the Lykie doesn’t mess with the castles systems. The last thing they need is the castle trying to kill them all again.

“Once the castle is moved Shiro, and I will help search for the Lykie,” Allura says to Coran, “and you and Hunk can begin upgrading our systems. If we can get the castle to detect quintessence anomalies, we may be able to track it.”

“That’s a brilliant idea, princess!” Coran says. “There’s no way the Lykie will be able to hide from us and use its abilities, then.”

Allura nods, “I’m taking us to Olkarion. We’ll be able to focus on this issue, and perhaps they will offer us some assistance in capturing the Lykie.”

Hunk stands back as the Alteans begin preparing to create a wormhole. Hunk notices Shiro’s stiff expression and shuffles over to Black Paladin.

“You okay, Shiro?” Hunk asks.

“I’m fine,” Shiro replies, but his frown deepens. “Just worried. This Lykie thing could be a serious problem, especially if we don’t know how long it been on board.”

“I feel you, man,” Hunk groans. “Something seriously feels wrong here.”

“Let’s just hope things go smoothly,” Shiro says.

Hunk doesn’t point out how Shiro’s concerned gaze is constantly drawn to Allura, and they fall into silence and wait for the wormhole to form. 

* * *

 

Lance heads down to the kitchens first with Keith quick on his heels. He’s not sure why he went to the kitchens first, but he guesses it was just the quickest place to get to. Also, if Scooby-Boo taught him anything it was that the monsters tended to show in the kitchen at some point.

He releases Keith’s arm and goes to the fridge.

“I don’t think it would be hiding in the fridge Lance,” Keith comments. He scans the room for something odd or out of place.

“That’s exactly why it could be in the fridge! Because you wouldn’t think that,” he replies and shuffles through the fridge’s contents. Nothing odd on the top shelf of the fridge except for some weird food experiment that is clearly the work of Pidge and Hunk. He doesn’t touch it and looks through the second shelf.

Keith begins looking through the cupboards. He finds nothing seemingly unusual for a kitchen.

“Man,” Lance’s sighs as he finishes his search of the fridge, “I kinda wish I went with Pidge. I bet she’s having fun.”

“I think you are forgetting the fact that she wanted to do this on her own,” Keith grunts. The lower cupboards hold no promise for signs of any mischief.

“Yeah… How did she manage to get Shiro to yes to that, anyway?” Lance wonders out loud.

“Hell if I know…” Keith replies. He pauses for a second. “Allura. She went to Allura first.”

“Ah,” Lance nods, “That makes sense. If Allura says its okay, Shiro’s just gonna nod along.”

Keith snorts, “He’s is so fucking gone. It’s embarrassing to watch.”

Opening up some upper cabinets, Lance chuckles. “I don’t think we should judge. I’m pretty that’s how everyone else felt after watching us.”

Keith huffs. “I guess…”

“Find anything?” Lance asks, turning to face Keith.  Keith shakes his head and stands up, cracking his back.

“Nope,” Keith says. “It’s going to take a while before we find anything.”

Lance gives Keith a smile and opens up the next cupboard. “Hey, we don’t know that. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Uh Huh, sure – uh….” Keith’s eyes widen and points at Lance. Lance frowns and following Keith’s gaze over his shoulder.

He freezes.

Is that…?

No, it couldn’t be… but it is sitting right there! Lance blinks and rubs his eyes. It’s still there.

A rabbit. Just sitting in the cupboard. It’s little nose twitches, and its long ears perk up. Lance _awe’s_ internally but shakes his head. A rabbit should not be here.

“Uh…. That’s definitely not what I was expecting,” Lance says, his eyes narrowing at the rabbit. “Did someone sneak it on board? Keith, did you have a rabbit in your fanny packs when we left Earth and didn’t tell us?”

“No, Lance, and they’re not called ‘fanny-packs.’”

“Oh really, then what are they called?”

“…”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Let’s just focus on the rabbit,” Keith groans, “or whatever that thing is.”

“I’m gonna call in the others,” Lance says and turns on his comms. He keeps his eyes on the rabbit, and Keith slowly moves closer to Lance. “Hey, guys?”

_“Lance? What is it?”_ Shiro answers.

“We found a rabbit.”

There’s silence over the comms.

Then Hunk’s quiet voice whispers, “ _Did he just say ‘rabbit’? Like an earth rabbit? Or…”_

“Yep, an earth rabbit,” Lance chirps.

“ _Huh… is it cute?”_ Hunk asks. Lance snorts, and Shiro says Hunk’s name chastising.

“Yes, it's very cute, Hunk. It has big blue eyes and everything. It actually reminds of my niece’s rabbit…” Lance frowns, and his stare hardens. Now that he thinks about it, the rabbit looks _exactly_ like his niece’s. He didn’t accidentally kidnap her rabbit, did he?

Coran's voice jumps in, “ _Be careful, it very well could be the Lykie! There’s a good chance that the Lykie might have seen that ‘rabbit’ from one of your dreams – or worse, your memories – and is mimicking its form!”_

“Lance,” Keith’s hand curls around Lance’s upper arm and he begins guiding Lance back away from the rabbit. His sword is already formed, Lance notes as they step back from the Lykie. They have no idea what this thing is capable of. Lance pulls out his bayard as well.

Everything sees to still. The rabbit tilts its head curiously. Lance forms his gun. The rabbit jolts, leaping down to the floor before sprinting off out of the room and down the hall.

“It’s getting away!” Keith snarls and sprints after it. Lance jolts from his spot and quickly follows Keith. They can’t get separated, but Keith is fast, and Lance worries that he won't be able to keep up.

The rabbit's form is small, but it flies as it scrambles down the hall away from the two armed paladins. It’s not that fast however as Keith gains on it quickly. Lance grins as he sees Keith, his mate, powering through. The rabbit seems to notice is endangerment and flies around a corner in a desperate attempt to lose Keith. It doesn’t work.

Lance, several feet behind them watches as Keith finally lunges and wraps a hand around the rabbit’s form, snatching it into the air. He pants as he comes to a stop, and Keith turns to proudly show off his catch.

“Nice work, samurai,” Lance smiles. He turns on the comms to address the others, “Keith, caught it. We’re heading back.”

“ _Really? Well, that was easy,”_ Hunk comments.

“Yeah. Maybe if Keith clearly didn’t hunt rabbits then maybe it would have stood a chance.”

“Haha, very funny, Lance.” Keith gives Lance smirk. “I don’t hunt rabbits, though.”

“No? Then what do you hunt?” Lance asks.

“Lizards.”

_Huh?_

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Lizards?”

“Yep.”

“Huh… cool,” Lance says. Well, you learn something new every day, right?

“Let's get back to the bridge,” Keith says and takes a step forward. The rabbit in his hand goes limp, and Keith pauses.

The floor underneath his feet disappears. Keith gasps, and suddenly he is falling.

“Keith!” Lance screams and lunges forward to catch him, but he disappears from view faster than floor had. He goes to jump in after Keith, but lands face first into the floor. He pushes himself up and looks around.

The floor is back. But Keith isn’t. Nor the rabbit.

“Keith!” Lance slams his fists on the floor repeatedly as if he could muster enough strength he could force the floor to open up and release Keith. But he knows that this isn’t something he can do.

It’s very obvious that this Lykie has a plan. If it didn’t want to get caught, why would it take the form of something like a rabbit and not something that could run faster or perhaps be harder to fight? It wanted to get caught. So it could separate them. And it had.

The team's worried voices yell through the comms and Lance remembers that they likely heard his scream.

“ _Lance? Keith? What happened? Is everything alright?”_ Shiro asks rapidly.

“The Lykie took Keith,” Lance says bluntly.

“ _What? How?!”_ Hunk asks, shocked.

“I don’t know. It just used it mumbo-jumbo magic and made the floor disappear, and he fell through!” Lance hastily replies. He hears Coran curse in the background, and his worry starts going through the roof. “What do we do? Shiro?”

No one replies, and Lance feels his heart pound.

“Shiro?” He tries again.

“Just… sit tight Lance, I’m coming to you.” Shiro says. “Coran scanning the castle for any signs of Keith right now, don’t worry.”

“Okay, okay,” Lance says. He moves to sit against the wall, hugging his legs close to his chest. He can’t panic right now. He needs to keep a straight head on even though he has just lost Keith.

…

He lost Keith.

_Fuck_. 

* * *

 

Shiro runs down the halls as fast as he can. He needs to make it to Lance before anything else happens. Before the Lykie comes back and targets either of them. But he doubts that being in groups will help them. After all, it still managed to get Keith, and he was with Lance.

This Lykie is beginning to prove to be quite the threat. He just hopes that Keith can hold on for them wherever he is.

He passes the kitchen and heads down the hall to find Lance curled up in a ball. The scent of a distressed Omega hits him like a ton of bricks. He immediately halts in his steps. Shiro knew that Lance was panicked and worried, but he didn’t think it would be this bad. Something in his gut tells him that Lance – or the Omega in Lance – is still dealing with the threatening of his mate-ship bond with Keith and that this is only making it more difficult for him.

Cautiously, he approaches Lance. He doesn’t want to stress him even further. No to mention, there’s a very good possibility that Lance… might not be Lance and that this could be the Lykie in disguise. They had no visuals of what had occurred, only their conversation through the comms which did not provide much.

“Lance?” Shiro says, slowly approaching the Omega.

“Shiro?” Lance lifts his head up look up at him with dewy eyes. His eyes widen, and he leaps up and rushes to meet Shiro. Shiro nearly yelps when Lance suddenly wraps his arms around him, bringing him into an abrupt but necessary hug.

“Hey, it's okay, Lance. You’re okay.” Shiro rests a comforting hand over Lance’s shoulder.

“I – _I lost, Keith!_ ” Lance chokes outs, shoving his face into Shiro’s shirt.

“Shh, it’s not your fault, Lance. Don’t worry; we will find him. It’s going to be alright.” Shiro isn’t honestly sure about his own words, but he needs to calm Lance down. If they are going to get through this and get Keith back, they need to be focused.

Frowning, Lance still nods. Shiro relaxes as Lance’s distressed scent fades just a little. It’s enough to reassure him they Lance can handle this. He can understand Lance’s distress, as the Alpha in him is practically pacing back and forth.

“Come on, let's get back to the others.” Shiro pushes Lance back but keeps his hand on his shoulder as he guides them both back through the halls.

Lance clings to his arm for the majority of the way. It’s likely that Lance is desperately trying to control his instincts. Yet, there is a part of Shiro that can’t help but feel… suspicious. Something is off about Lance’s behaviour, but he can’t pinpoint what. He just appears as an extremely distressed Omega, and rightfully so, but he figures Lance would have more control and focus since Keith is in danger. He was able to hold out when he and Pidge were on Teva, but right now he’s barely holding himself together. Something else was going on with Lance, and Shiro has no idea what.

The walk back to the bridge seems to take longer than usual, but Shiro assumes its just because of his attention constantly flickering back to Lance. Of course, that was until he comes to an abrupt dead end. Literally. He had come from this way, right? In fact, he doesn’t remember passing the kitchen at all.

“Shiro?” Lance quietly asks, “Is something wrong?”

That confuses Shiro even further. Is there something he is missing? Maybe he just went down the wrong hallway, to begin with. But if that is the case why didn’t Lance say anything?

He glances at Lance in the corner of his eye. Immediately, Lance distressed demeanour shifts to something more… closed off. There’s only one thought in Shiro’s mind, one that even the Alpha part of him agrees with, and that is that this is _not_ Lance. And somehow, he’s been lured into a trap.

His suspicions are confirmed when Lance releases his arms and leaps away from him.

Something fast flashes past Lance, and a body crashes into him.

“Gah!” He yelps as he’s knocked to the ground. Sharp teeth snap at him, and yellow eyes gleam sharp within intent to kill. Shiro brings his arm in front of himself to push back his attacker. His eyes widen in shock when he sees that it is none other than Keith.

“Keith!?” Shiro shouts but receives nothing more than a growl from the other. He doesn’t understand. What’s going on? This has to be something twisted nightmare. There’s no way this was real. This isn’t real.

But the sting of Keith’s claws as the run across his cheek feel too real. Quickly, he kicks Keith off of him, and he falls away with a howl. He rolls back onto his feet and takes in Keith’s new form. He looks more Galra-like, and his stance is hostile and ready to leap into action. What has Shiro more concerned is the anger and hatred that burns off of Keith. He’s baring his teeth in a way that an Alpha does to show dominance, and in this case, it means he’s trying to usurp Shiro’s place as Top Alpha – but through the means of death apparently.

 “Keith, why are doing this?” Shiro asks, hoping to get some answer. Keith simply snarls. He’s lost to animal instincts within.

A heavy mass hits him from behind – he forgot about Lance. He’s almost knocked to the floor, but he manages to shove Lance off. Lance almost looks as equally feral as Keith, but there’s still some control in his form. Instead of baring his teeth, he gives Shiro a sharp-tooth grin.

“Don’t take it too personally, Shiro,” Lance says, “You’re just not fit for this Pack anymore.”

“Lance, what –” Shiro is cut off by Keith’s growl.

“Honestly, did you really think that a broken Alpha like you could lead us and keep us safe? How many more close calls are we going to have before someone is finally killed all because you made the wrong choices?” Lance continues, venom clear in his voice. “Just think of it this way, the best thing you can do for this Pack is to die.

“Lance, that’s-” Shiro tries to speak, but Keith’s snarl has his throat closing up on him. What is wrong with him?

“I mean, you were already trying to get Keith to take your place, so really you shouldn’t be complaining when we’re taking your advice,” Lance's eyes go sharp. “But don’t worry, _Alpha,_ we’ll make it quick.”

Keith lunges, and Shiro brings up his arms, that suddenly feel like they weigh a ton, to block Keith’s attack. He doesn’t dare activate his arm. He’s not sure what is going on with either of them. Even if this is a dream, he can’t risk the possibility of this being mind control, or some trick – or worse, actually being real.

His skills are being tested, and he knows that it's only going to get worse as he sees Lance in the corner of his eye circling around them, watching for the perfect opportunity to strike.

At this moment, Shiro is no Black Paladin, no leader, or Alpha here. He is just prey. 

* * *

 

 

It’s dark _. Really_ dark. That’s all Keith can focus on when he opens his eyes. He feels like he’s falling, but he’s not or at least he thinks he’s not. He’s just surrounded by darkness. It’s cold too. It bites deep into his bones, and yet he doesn’t shiver or feel the need to curl up in a ball for warmth. It’s weird. Being here is _really_ weird.

He’s pretty sure he’s naked too. Which just adds the weirdness of everything.

He vaguely remembers that he should be holding a rabbit in his hand, but it’s not there anymore. It’s disappeared. He wonder’s if it ate him, and that’s where he is right now.

_Still doesn’t explain the lack of clothes._

He wonder’s if Lance is okay. He remembers seeing Lance’s fear-stricken face before being enveloped in pitch blackness. Did Lance fall in too? He hopes not. The last thing Keith wants is Lance being hurt.

He doesn’t want Lance being hurt.

He doesn't like Lance hurt.

He doesn’t want to hurt Lance.

He never wants to hurt Lance.

He can’t hurt Lance.

 

Keith wakes up in his bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly rushed and my brain feels half dead, but oh well :) I wanted to get some writing done.   
> If you notice any grammar mistakes, feel free to let me know so I can fix them. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://the-miss-mousie.tumblr.com/)


End file.
